The Last Legacy
by ShadowFireX13
Summary: Percy Jackson and his friends have survived a massacre. They are the last of the race of demigods. What will happen when Percy attracts the attention of SHIELD? Don't judge the story too harshly cuz it's my second! Thx!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

When your best friend dies, you mourn and cry. When your best friend and girlfriend dies, you scream and yell. And that's what Percy did. A wall of water plunged down on the monster army that Gaea sent for vengeance. Storms crashed down, sending monsters flying dazedly into the sky; the ground shook with such ferocity that it could have rivaled Poseidon's power. The air turned steaming hot as the rage of the sea rushed through the enemy ranks.

Percy knelt over Annabeth. She looked like she was peacefully sleeping. She had been down by the Minotaur's hammer. Percy's tears dropped down to the ground. The sea churned and thrashed from his anger and depressment.

After the Seven retuned to America, they had joined the battle. After Jason, Piper, and Leo defeated Gaea, the camps had a victory party. They honored the fallen and celebrated their victory. The Seven stilled were grieving over Leo. The atmosphere was sad, grievous, and grateful.

And that's when Gaea struck. Her backup plan as it seem was: if she fell, a huge army would storm the camps and destroy them forever. The campers were caught by surprise, and the army outnumbered them greatly. Leo swooped out of the sky at the last second with Calypso on Festus. She died that day too.

The Greeks and Romans were wiped out entirely. The ground littered with bodies of the dead.

Only eight survived the slaughter. The last of the legacy.

"Percy, let her go," sad Piper gently. Jason stood behind them, his glasses glinting as he bowed his head. Frank and Hazel stood behind Leo as he screamed over Calypso. She had been stabbed from behind.

Nico and Reyna stood in the shadows, silently grieving.

A flash of light slammed down to the ground. Hermes stood there grimly, with his caduceus in his hand. "Demigods," he choked a little on the word, "Olympus requires your presence."

"Percy, come on," said Piper, tugging his arm. She looked at Jason pleadingly. He grabbed Percy's other arm. They hauled Percy over to the messenger god. Once they let go, Percy slumped back on the ground again.

"Brace yourselves," warned Hermes as the demigods assembled. He raised his caduceus. They disappeared in a flash of light.

The demigods appeared in a room. The council sat before them, with Hestia tending the hearth. Hades, Bellona, and Hecate sat off to the side. All the gods looked weary and tired. The demigods who have never seen Olympus gaped around in amazement. Percy swallowed a lump in his throat, seeing the architectural work of Annabeth.

"What's going on?" asked Jason finally.

"Well, you are the last of our legacy," boomed Zeus. The other gods and goddesses glared at him. He coughed.

"You eight are the last surviving demigods in the world," he revised, "And we would like it to stay that way. The council has decided to elevate you powers and Hebe will grant you eternal youth."

"But father," started Jason, but Zeus held up his hand.

"There will be no objections. Each god or goddess will bless you." said Zeus. He held out his palm and a beam of white hot electricity slammed into Jason. Piper screamed. Jason flew backward into a wall, creating a crater. His friends leaped up yelling and drawing their weapons.

"Guys, I'm alright," said Jason climbing out of the crater. His skin let off a slight glow of sky blue before going back to normal. He wasn't even scraped. Piper gasped in relief.

"Brace yourself Percy," warned Poseidon. He threw a bolt of deep blue light at Percy. It slammed into Percy, but he was ready for it. He gritted his teeth and grounded his feet. Finally the light vanished, Percy like Jason glowed sheen of blue.

"I will bless all of you," said Hades. The demigods looked at each other in amazement. Hades was the least likely god to help you. And he hated the Percy and Jason. "But you all have to assist me on some things. And your powers will not be as strong as my children." The other gods and goddess cried out their disapproval.

**That makes sense,** thought Percy wryly.

"You will have the ability to shadow travel," continued Hades, ignoring the protests.

"Um, what kind of favors are we talking about here," asked Frank nervously.

"Oh, little soul reaping," said Hades casually. The demigods paled. "A large number of evil souls escaped into the mortal world when the Doors of Death were open. They now walk the earth in mortal flesh. I just want you to hunt them down," clarified Hades.

"You want us going around sniping bad guys?" clarified Leo. Hades shrugged. The demigods looked at each other.

"You others will have the choice to decide, but I will bless my children," said Hades. Hazel and Nico winced at that.

"We'll do it," said Percy. No way was he going to let his cousins kill a bunch of evil sickos alone. The others nodded.

Hades waved his hand and black shadows engulfed all of them.

"This is taking forever," muttered Ares. "Let's just all bless them at once."

The other gods murmured in agreement. They all held out their palms and streaming of light hit the demigods. Let's just say they all fell to the ground in searing pain.

"Demigods, you are the last of your kind," said Zeus, "protect the Greek and Roman legacy. You will never see or hear Olympus again." The gods bowed their heads.

"Wait what?" asked Percy. Suddenly, they were back on Half – Blood Hill. The dead were still there.

"This feels like a nightmare." said Frank.

"Guys, I have a plan," said Leo.

"Uh what?!"

"Look, we're the last demigods right? That means we just became a little more important. We need to protect all this stuff. I'm mean, we can't have monsters coming here and taking the weapons of the dead or eating them," his voice quivered, "we need the protect all this stuff, and the ambrosia and nectar too."

"So what's the plan," asked Percy. He gripped his sword.

"We can gather up all the weapons and important stuff and store them in Bunker Nine. Then we can protect it, maybe with the Fleece. Or I can rig something up," said Leo.

"Dude, did Athena bless you or something," said Frank. Leo shrugged.

"Well, it's a good idea for now. Let's just do it," said Reyna.

And that's what they did. The eight eventually found their new powers and trained with them. They sealed Bunker Nine and swore to protect it with their lives. The eight shrouded the dead and burned them in the valley. Eventually, the fields – where strawberry patches and cabins once stood – grew flowers of all kinds. And finally, the eight kept their promise to Hades, hunting down the evil in the world.

**Who blessed who?**

**Percy: Poseidón, Hestia, Athena**

**Leo: Hephaestus, Hera**

**Reyna: Athena, Artemis, Bellona**

**Hazel: Hades, Hécate**

**Frank: Ares, Apollo**

**Jason: Zeus, Hermes**

**Piper: Aphrodite, Demeter**

**Nico: Hades, Dionysus,**


	2. Chapter 2

**A little summary: **It has been 5 years since the Giant war. The eight split up. They had been carrying out Hades orders for assassinations. In return, he had offered them payment. Then, Hades became silent. All connections to the Greek world vanished. Even Nico couldn't travel to the Underworld. Nature spirits and ghost bore no news on why or how it occurred. So the eight continued the assassinations, and sometimes stealing. It was a living for them, but they also had normal lives . . .

**Natasha Romanov/ Black Widow POV**

"Director you called?" Natasha stepped into the room. Director Nick Fury stood behind the large windows of the new Shield building. Below, the city sprawled out in every direction for miles. A desk and three chairs occupied the room. Otherwise it was relatively empty.

"Yes, I believe I have found a new member for the Avengers." He said. "I want you to recruit him." He turned around to face her; his one eye serious.

"Who do you have in mind?" Natasha asked.

"His code name is Serpent. You may know him as a deadly assassin or more commonly, a member of the Ghost 8."

Natasha gasped. "You want me to get him?! He's is untraceable, not to mention his criminal record."

Fury looked at her solemnly. "He has no _evident_ criminal record. And all his targets are evil or insanely crazy."

"True," she muttered, "but you can't be seriously considering him." Serpent was like a ghost. He left no trace that he was the one that killed victim, everyone knew it was him.

"I am and you are going to retrieve him." Fury pointed at a single thick file in the room. "Those are his records and the information we tracked on him."

Natasha shook her head disbelievingly as she picked up the file and browsed it.

Name: Only known as Serpent

Bio: Killed too many victims to count. Some discovered before death and interrogated but later died. All victim autopsies have evidence of stab wounds, burns, and or water in the lungs to signify drowning (See page 34). Leaves a calling card of a singly serpent scale (Origin unknown, not of this world). Can be identified by deep blue armor and sword according to targets. Never was caught. Has no evidence of him actually doing the murder, but victims all identified him.

The next pages were autopsies reports recorded interrogations.

"This doesn't tell me how to track him down," she said.

"We believe that Serpent is a man called Perseus Jackson. If our sources are correct, then he should be around 22. Our records show he use to live in New York. His parents are dead.

Now he lives in a secluded part of Florida. He has no job yet he manages to live comfortably. We have reports of inhumane endurance and exceptional aquatic abilities, along with others. In his past, we have reports of suspicious accidents and events.

He was kidnapped at the age of twelve and was seen battling a kidnapper twice his size on a beach. The kidnapper was never caught. When he was 14, we have footage of him at a museum battling a runaway lion. He was sighted when Mount Saint Helens exploded. There is also footage of him running amok New York during the Great Slumber.

You are to track him and bring him in, alive, for interrogation. You can bring a team of about soldiers."

Natasha nodded. "It will be done," she said, tucking the file under her arm.

"There is a helicraft on the roof with your team inside," he said. Natasha walked out of the room into the corridor.

Studying the file, she almost ran over Steve Rodgers.

"Whoa," he said. She stumbled to a halt.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"You're polite today," he noted, "a difficult mission?"

"We might get a new Avenger."

"Who?" he asked.

"A mass killer," she said, ascending the stairs to the roof. She hauled herself in. "Set course for Florida," she ordered.

**Percy POV**

"Yeah, ok," said Percy. He slashed his hand through the Iris Message. It was the time for the annual demigod reunion. Ever since he and his friends split up, they had only connected through IM and Leophones (the demigod version of I – phone, courtesy of Leo Valdez). Sometimes they visited each other, but that was rare.

Being known in the mortal world as mysterious assassins, it was hard for the demigods to be all seen in one place. So they all met once a year at Hazel's place.

Percy knew little about how his friends lived. He knew Hazel was a millionaire somewhere in Louisiana (summoning uncursed jewels had its perks) and Reyna was a child prodigy. Leo had a machine shop somewhere and Piper was a teen superstar. He didn't know how they explained how they never seemed to age (Hebe's blessing had somehow stuck them all as 14 year olds, ugh), but he didn't really care.

Percy smiled. On the news, he had seen him being referred to as Serpent. He had left serpent scales on his victims because he had slayed a sea monster near Key West. He didn't know how to get rid of the scales (sea monsters left horrible trophies) so he left one with each victim.

Mortals were so weird. They called Percy and his friends the Ghost 8. Percy had heard several rumors about them that were very untrue. He could have sworn half of them were spread by Leo, who else would tell the world Percy was addicted to blue food? Mortals would put out blue food on the street and stake out nearby with cameras, or nets. It was ridiculous!

Percy paced around his cottage. He had a small place near a secluded beach in Florida. Hardly anyone came to the area due to the numerous sharks that swam in the waters, but they didn't bother Percy. The area had the privacy he needed.

The beach hallowed him to practice his powers. Recently, he had discovered three ways to travel: shadow travel, vapor travel, and fire teleportation! Percy decided to water travel, so he walked down to the beach.

"Hey kid," yelled a voice.

Percy frowned, turning around. A lady in a black jumpsuit stood several yards from him. She had two guns in holsters. Percy frowned.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Can you point to Percy Jackson's house?" She asked. Percy tensed. An armed woman asking to knock on your door was bad.

"I'm Percy Jackson," he said.

The lady widened her eyes.

"But you're a kid. Percy Jackson is man, about 22 years old," she said.

"Well, you're wrong. I'm Percy Jackson." Percy edged toward the water.

"Well, sorry about this kid, but I have to take you in," she stepped forward. Percy backed up.

"Uh, but I have like a party to get to, so see ya," he bolted. The lady rushed forward, grabbing his arms. Percy twisted and flipped her to the ground.

She sprang up, with narrow eyes. "Stand down Serpent, we have the area covered. Come with us, and you won't get hurt," she said.

Percy got into stance. "Look lady, I don't know what you're talking about, but I 'm late," he growled. She threw a punch at his head. Percy blocked it and snatched her guns. He threw them into the water.

"We have found you Serpent. You cannot hide no more," she said, throwing a side kick. She was fast and agile. Percy blocked her every move easily, but he had to get in the water.

"I think I can," Percy said. He dove into the water. Above, he heard yells and screams of frustration. Percy dove deeper into the water. He swam under a rack outcropping. It would shield him from sonar in case they were on the water.

Percy concentrated. He felt the tug of the water and smiled. His body dissolved into vapor toward Louisiana.

**Natasha POV**

Natasha groaned as she watched Serpent disappear into the waves. She grabbed a radio.

"Target has gone into the water," she yelled, "scan the sonar!" A helicraft soared over her head onto the water.

"Team, assemble on the beach. Have divers search the water," she commanded.

5 hours later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Arhghhghgh," she yelled in frustration. They have searched all afternoon. There had been no sign of the assassin. Sonar had no readings, the divers found only coral, and the assassin hadn't even surfaced. It was like he disappeared.

Her phone buzzed.

"Have you got him yet?" It was Fury.

Natasha fumed. "No, he escaped."

"Well, I need you back in New York. There is an Avengers meeting in the tower." The line went dead. Natasha frowned. "Land on the beach," she said over the radio, "we are heading back to New York."

**Steve Rogers/ Captain America POV**

Steve Rogers walked into a coffee shop. It was his favorite in New York.

"The usual sir?" Steve nodded.

The boy behind the counter busied himself with the machine. His name was Lance. The kid looked around fourteen with blond hair and blue eyes. He had only been there a few months. He made the best coffee around.

Steve smiled. He had seen the kid around the park where he jogged at. The kid appeared to be an orphan.

Here you go sir," Lance handed him a coffee. Steve placed a five dollar bill in the tip jar when his phone rang.

"Cap, meeting in the tower." Steve sighed. It was Tony Stark.

"I'll be there," he said. He ran out and hopped onto his motorcycle. He gunned the engine and sped into the traffic.

**Percy POV**

Percy emerged from Hazel's pool around seven, completely dried. Hazel owned an entire apartment complex in the French Quarter. Percy was pretty sure she owned a string of coffee shops, department stores, and other stuff Percy didn't bother remembering. He climbed up the stairs to the main room.

"Hey Water Boy," yelled Leo, "nice of you to join the party." He was cooking on the stove. Jason and Piper sat at the table talking, a computer between them. Hazel and Nico were arguing next to the TV. Reyna and Frank looked like they had just stopped sparring with each other.

"Hey Perce," said Jason. He grinned.

Percy smiled. "What's new?"

"Blackjack says hi," said Piper. Percy smiled. Piper had rescued all the pegasi and unicorns from the camps. They were now living on her country estate. Piper had been blessed by Demeter, so she could talk to animals (**I know that is not correct but I really wanted her to have that ability**).

"I got a job in New York." said Jason.

"Cool," said Percy, "regular or the other."

"Regular, I'm working in a coffee shop. Hazel owns it," said Jason.

"Makes sense, she put in a good word for you?"

"Yup," Jason said, "hey, you want to join us later?"

"Why?" asked Percy.

"Me and Piper were going to case Visili's place?" said Jason. Percy rolled his eyes. Jason and Piper weren't exactly like the others. They didn't do a lot of assassinations; they went more into the thievery business. Still, stealing from bad guys was still brining them down.

"The Italian Fence?" asked Percy.

"Yeah, he just got a shipment of illegal titanium." Piper said.

"What do you need me for?" Percy asked.

"He's protecting it in his Cuban villa. It's right next to the beach."

"Hmm, I'll consider it," said Percy.

"You said that last time," complained Jason. Suddenly, an ear splitting screech came from Leo. The eight of them cringed at the sudden noise.

"Sorry," he muttered, taking out his phone. He tapped the screen a few times.

"Guys, we have to go," he yelled.

"What?" said Hazel, startled.

"The perimeter alarm around Bunker Nine has just been triggered." said Leo.

"Seriously!?" whined Nico.

"We already had one last week!" complained Percy.

"Come on," said Reyna. The eight of them armored up and checked over their weapons. Then, running toward a corner, they dove into the shadows.


	3. Chapter 3

**Tony Stark POV**

"So, can this be quick, because I have something I have to get back to," said Tony (for like the 12th time). His shipment of a new metal alloy had arrived and he really wanted to examine it. The meeting was so messing up his schedule.

"Wait until the others get here," said Fury. Stark sighed. Bruce and Clint were having a conversation across from him. Natasha was sulking in the corner. Apparently, she had failed some mission. Tony grinned. He was soon going to use that against her later.

Tony frowned. Where was the Cap? Usually, he would be the first here.

Finally, Steve came in. "What took you so long?" asked Tony exasperatedly.

Steve glared at him. "Ask your robot. He wouldn't let me up," he said.

"Hey, JARVIS is not a robot. It is a –"

"Ok, let's make this quick," interrupted Fury. He dimmed the lights and turned on the projector.

"What about Thor?" asked Clint.

"He has business on Asgard," said Fury impatiently. He turned to the screen.

"This is a satellite image of a valley of flowers near Long Island Sound." Fury zoomed in to the woods. "A few months ago, our satellite metal sweepers detected a large amount of metal in the forest. We sent a team to check it out, but they returned with nothing. The coordinates led straight to a cliff. When they tried to get closer, they couldn't. It seems as if a force field is blocked it.

Then, they disappeared. When we recovered them, they had no memory of what had occurred. It took deep hypnosis therapy to get that piece of information out of them.

So next, we sent out a bomb squad. They couldn't blow the field. Not even the grass was burnt. Then the same thing happened. They disappeared.

Last week, we sent out a team led by Phil Coulson (**yeah, he's alive in my story**). We recovered the team, but Phil was missing. The team had no memory of what happened.

Whatever is there, it is guarded heavily. You will go to the area and see what all the fuss is about."

"So, you want us to get metal? Look. Fury, if you need some, I can have like boatloads shipped over by tomorrow." said Tony.

"I agree with Stark, why do we need to go through all this fuss for some metal." said Natasha, "I want to get back onto my mission."

"Ha, for once, it looks like you failed to track a target," snorted Tony. Natasha bristled.

"Look," intervened Steve, "it's probably worth checking out. Phil Coulson isn't the type to disappear off the grid. Whoever is protecting the metal must have a reason to place such high protective measures around it."

"I agree with the Captain, it seems pretty high security for a few pounds of metal," said Clint uncertainly. Thor and Bruce nodded.

Tony stood up. "Let's make this quick," he sighed, calling to JARVIS for his suit.

**Natasha POV**

The Avengers dropped out of the hovercraft onto a road. Once they set foot on the ground, it immediately veered back to the tower.

"This way," said Natasha. She walked down the hill.

"Wait," yelped Clint. He pulled her back.

"What is it," she hissed.

"Look," he pointed at the sign. Natasha peered in the dark. "Please don't step on the flowers," she read, "Seriously Clint?!"

"Seriously?!," said Tony disbelievingly, "who cares about the flowers."

"Something doesn't feel right about those flowers," muttered Clint.

"Hmmm, yes, I'm sure the flowers will suddenly come alive and attack us," said Tony gravely. He laughed.

"No, he is right. This place feels of death," muttered Steve. He tapped his shield nervously.

"Yeah, ok," snorted Tony, "Let's just get on with it."

They hiked through the forest. Soon, they came into a clearing.

"Just a little further," said Natasha.

"This is a far as you go," said a voice. The avengers tensed. A humanoid from shifted out from Steve's shadow. It solidified into a figure that flipped back twenty paces.

It regarded them. "Serpent," snarled Natasha. He was dressed in deep blue armor and a mask hid his face from view.

"Look who it is. My crazy kidnapper and a Comicon posse," he mused.

"Wait, this is the guy? You lost to a midget," choked Tony. Natasha growled.

"You can remove the mask, Perseus Jackson," she said.

"Who is that," asked Steve.

"He is an assassin," said Natasha," highly dangerous. A boy."

"What is it with this new world? Now they recruit kids to murder people," yelped Steve. Natasha coughed.

"Look kid, it is 5 to one. Stand down," said Tony.

"Are you sure," he asked mischievously. Around them, shadows rippled, revealing seven more people surrounding them in all directions. The Avengers retreated into a defensive circle.

**Percy POV**

"Hey check it out, we crashed a Comicon! Do you think I have time to change into my Superman suit?!" laughed Leo.

"That's enough," said Reyna. She studied the intruders. We all circled the strangers, noting their weapons.

"The Ghost 8," whispered my kidnapper.

"What are you muttering about Natasha," said the guy in the metal suit.

"It's the Ghost 8, they the threat" she yelled, getting into a defensive stance," People group them together, but I had no idea they were actually a team." Her voice trembled slightly. "They're all deadly killers," she warned.

"You know them?" asked the guy dressed like the US flag.

"Strike," she gestured at Jason.

"Beauty," she pointed at Piper.

"Mist," she nodded at Hazel.

"Shadow," she pointed at Nico.

"Roma," she looked at Reyna.

"Hunter," she waved at Frank.

"Machine," She said to Leo, "and you know Serpent."

"Yeah ok, now that you introduced us, I really want to know" said Leo, "What are a bunch of old biddies like you guys doing here on a night like this?"

"Hey!" exclaimed the dude in the metal armor.

"So, how do you want to do this?" interrupted Percy. The guy with the bow and arrow released an arrow at Frank.

Frank immediately whipped out his and intercepted it with his own arrow.

"Get 'em," yelled Reyna. We charged forward. Apparently, they weren't actually expecting us to attack, so they reacted a second too late.

Jason crashed into the armor man. They flew up and started fighting in the sky. Frank and the arrow guy were having a shoot off, causing explosions around us.

Nico and Leo were tackling a big green monster. Where had he come from? Nico was using the shadows to distract him while Leo shot fire at him.

Hazel had gotten the flag guy's shield and was examining it. Reyna was dueling with Natasha.

Piper was growing plants over the flag guy. He was very busy dodging the whipping vines.

And Percy stood off to the side, eating a cookie.

"Hey, help us," yelled Piper. Percy jerked stiffly as Piper's Charmspeak washed over him.

He immediately leaped into action. Percy tripped Natasha, who fell to the ground. Reyna punched the flag guy in the nose. The green thing fell wrapped in shadows and a bronze net. Hazel held her hand out, using her power s to slam the armor guy into the ground.

"Mist," he yelled. Hazel raised her arms. They forced the Avengers into a circle. Immediately, chains sprang around, trapping them in a circle.

"It's an illusion," yelled Natasha.

"Pretty solid one," grunted the one of them.

The big green monster roared.

"Sleep," commanded Piper. The big guy immediately slumped over and snored.

"Seriously?!" complained the archer dude. Percy laughed. The scene just looked so funny. Natasha growled.

"No need to hide your face," she snarled to Percy.

Percy looked at her, and then took off his mask.

**Steve POV**

"Move slowly to the right," whispered Steve. He tried scooting to the left.

"You can't move with the big guy out," said Serpent.

Steve stared at the kids who had bested them in less than ten minutes. The one named Serpent, or Perseus had removed his mask and hood. He had dark hair and sea green eyes, which gave him a Mediterranean complexion.

"Look, Perseus," began Natasha.

"Percy," he snapped.

"Whatever, we are on to you. Surrender," she said.

"Um, who is the one in chains," mocked Machine.

"Do we judge them now," asked the girl in Roman armor. She whistled. Two dogs came bounding out of the woods. They looked like they were made completely out of gold and silver.

Stark whistled. "Those look awesome! I am so making those when I get home." The girl glared at him.

"We don't have too. They aren't evil people," said the boy who could fly.

"How do you know?" said the boy who had a shooting match with Hawkeye.

"They didn't step on the flowers," said one.

"There the Avengers," muttered the boy, "They saved New York from that alien invasion. They aren't evil. I really doubt they really ever murdered someone." Steve thought he sound really familiar.

"Wait, New York had an alien invasion!?" said the archer.

"I thought that was a movie," muttered the Fireboy.

"Wait, you don't know who we are?!" gasped Tony. I sighed. "I'm mean, I can understand about these guys, but you have to know me! Come on! Have you all been living under a rock!?" he exclaimed.

"Huh?" said the archer.

"That's Tony Stark," said the girl who had told Hulk to sleep," You know, the rich obnoxious playboy with an ego bigger than Texas." Steve hid a smile.

"Always nice to meet a fan," said Stark dryly, "Whatever, your opinion doesn't matter to me. You don't even know me.

"I was at your Christmas party," she said.

"Hey, you mean the rich guy who made that big cool building in New York with a whole bunch of technology," exclaimed Fireboy.

"Finally, someone who doesn't live under a rock," exclaimed Stark. "And has taste," he looked pointly at Steve.

"Ohhh, can we keep him I really could use a new helicopter. Or we can ransom him for his jet!" exclaimed Fireboy.

"Uh, how about you let me go and I'll arrange a reward for you," suggested Stark.

"No," said Percy, shooting he Fireboy a look. "Tell us more about them," he said, looking at the boy.

"Um, that's Captain America, from like the 1900s. He was frozen in time, literally. They found him in a block an ice. Um, that's Black Widow; I guess her name is Natasha. Hulk, or Dr. Bruce Banner when he is human is the sleeping guy. The archer is called Hawkeye. Er, you already know Tony Stark. And I don't know where Thor is. He's the big man with the hammer."

"Hey how come Capsicle gets such an elaborate description," said Stark.

"I got it! You work down at that coffee place," exclaimed Steve. He smiled triumphantly. The kid looked at the others.

"Lance isn't my real name. I'm Jason," he said, pulling off his hood and mask.

"Ok, are we all going to blow our covers tonight?!" yelled Roma.

"What did you do to Phil Coulson?" interrupted Clint.

"Oh, the weird guy in the tux. He was such a buzzkill," said Fireboy.

"You can find him on a cruise ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He believes he won a free vacation package," said Percy more helpfully.

"Seriously?!" said Natasha, "you sent him on vacation."

"He wasn't a bad guy, so we sent him off, after wiping his mind of course," said the boy in the shadows.

"You're going to wipe our minds?" said Stark.

"We make you forget of ever meeting us," said Percy.

"Why are you even at this place," asked Natasha.

"That is none of your business," said Lance – er Jason.

"So we do it now," said Mist.

"No we don't have to wipe their memories. You're all from SHIELD, so bring this warning to them. This area is under our protection, they strike here again, none of the captured will return alive." said Jason seriously.

"And leave me alone too!" said Percy. He turned to one of the girls.

"Sleep," she said soothingly. Steve felt his eyes getting heavily. The last thing he remembered was a golden blur, then darkness.

**Percy POV**

After we sent the Avengers away, we went back to Hazel's place again.

"Ok, so I 'm guessing no one has an appetite," said Reyna, "So let's just get on with the meeting." She opened a computer.

"Has anyone heard from the gods," she asked. No one answered.

Percy sighed. The gods had gone dormant for the past three year. Olympus was closed. Every time they sought out a minor god, they would disappear. They world still functioned, but no one had seen any of their patrons. All entrances to the Underworld were closed off. You couldn't even shadow travel there.

"Ok then, monster activity," asked Reyna.

"They're forming into bigger groups," said Nico. Monsters no longer attacked on their own. They were usually in packs now, and they continued growing in their numbers. They were getting smarter.

Something was not right in the Greek world.

**Steve POV**

He awoke on a floor. Steve groaned, and then recalled the previous events. The chains were gone. He looked around. All the Avengers lay on the floor, slowly coming to.

Steve glanced around the room. They were in a hotel room with two beds. One wall was made entirely of glass with an outdoor balcony. He could see the ocean and feel a slight rocking. The sun shone outside, so it must have been the next day. They had slept through the night.

"What the hell," groaned Tony. He slowly got up. "Are those Happy Meals," he asked, gesturing to the brightly colored boxes on the bed. There was one for each for them, along with a _fish scale_?

"Is this a joke," muttered Natasha. Banner swayed next to her. He was back in his human form.

"Come on," said Clint. They ran out to the pool deck. People of all ages where milling around. Some glanced curiously in their direction. Steve shifted uncomfortably.

"Hey, isn't that Phil," said Tony. Steve squinted in the sunlight. Yep, it was him. Phil Coulsen sat in one of the lounge chairs with sunglasses near the pool. He was reading a book.

They made their way over to him.

"Hey Phil," said Natasha. The man gave no response. She shook him slightly. Phil ignored her. She wacked him on the cheek and swiped off his sunglasses. His eyes were glazed over in a shade of grey.

"Here," said Clint. He splashed a glass of water on him. No response.

"Call SHIELD," said Steve, "We'll take him with us." Natasha walked off with a phone.

"Hey Cap," said Tony suddenly, "Where's your shield?"

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°05 hours later°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

**Tony POV**

The Avengers stood in the top floor of their tower.

"Let me get this straight," said Fury, "you were ambushed by a bunch of _kids? _And they had you in chained in less than 10 minutes."

"Hey, in our defense, uh, you never told us they were so small?" said Tony. Fury pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I want you to find out all you can about these kids," he said.

"What about Perseus?" asked Natasha.

"You will approach him differently this time. Don't attack unless provoked, and try to get him to come peacefully. I want him to join the Avengers Initiative. Actually, all of you go," said Fury thoughtfully. Steve widened his eyes.

"What about Thor," asked Tony?

"He is still on Asgard," said Fury. "You have your orders." He swept out.

Almost immediately, Tony seized the keyboard and started typing furiously. "What are you doing," asked Banner.

"Hacking SHIELD's files," said Tony innocently.

"WHAT!" yelled Natasha and Clint.

"Hey, we have to find out more about this kid right. SHIELD probably has his file somewhere," said Tony.

"What about that Jason guy," asked Clint, "you knew him Steve?"

"He works at a coffee shop," said Steve, "As far as I know, he's an orphan. He was a good kid."

"Sir, pizza delivery is here," said JARVIS.

"Yeah, sent it up," said Tony absently.

"Wow," said Tony staring at the screen, "this kid has done everything. He was on a nationwide man hunt! Ohhh and he blew up the St. Louis Arch. This kid's got style, I never liked that thing!" Natasha snorted.

"So how do we do this," asked Banner, 'I guess you wouldn't want me there since it's a peace thing." They murmured in agreement.

"So how do we do this?" repeated Clint.

"Here's an idea. How about you don't do that at all," said a voice. Steve jumped.

"What the hell? Security breach JARVIS! There's a kid in here," yelled Tony.

"Wait, aren't you that kid? Hey you're one of them!" said Clint.

"Jason, what are you doing here," said Steve.

"Delivering pizza," he said, holding a box.

Natasha fired six shots at him. Jason held up the pizza box. The bullets made a sound like crashing against metal, before dropping onto the ground. "Hey, that's no way to treat a kid," he yelped, "I'm just delivering pizza."

He opened the box.

"Hey, the pizza looks kinda funny," said Clint slowly.

"Is that my shield?" asked Steve in disbelief.

"Yeah, Mist wanted me to return it to you. She likes vibranium, really rare, but she wanted you to have it back.

Sorry about the cheese and stuff on top, but we had to disguise it as something. I think you can wash it off," said Jason hopefully.

He tossed Steve the shield, who looked at it in shock. "You're just gonna _give it back_?!" he said.

"Bet there's a bomb under there," said Clint.

"No bomb," said Jason, holding his hand up, "just pepperoni, mushroom, and two kinds of cheese. Sorry?"

"Awesome job kid," said Tony, "But get out of my building."

Jason saluted him. "See ya," he yelled, and crashed through one the the windows. I ran over to the broken window. There was no trace of him below. Kid had just disappeared.

Tony looked at the others in shock. "Did he just – He is totally paying for that!"

"He can fly," said Natasha dismissively.

"I'm going to clean my shield," said Steve, shaking his head.

**Percy POV**

Percy sat on his board, waiting for a wave. He could create one, but it would take some work, so he waited.

This was what Percy liked most about this beach. It was lonely and quiet, making night surfing the best.

Percy rode a wave back to shore. He trudged up through the sand to his back pack. Taking a swig of water, he looked out to the horizon. Percy was going to miss this place.

"Nice job," Percy whirled around to the source of the voice.

"Oh, you guys, Didn't Jason tell you to leave me alone," he said gruffly. The Avengers stood a few paces away from him. Their armor was gone. Now they wore regular clothes, well, except for the archer. He still had a bow and arrows.

"Look kid, we didn't come for a fight," said the archer guy. He held out a shopping bag. "We bring peace offerings." Percy peered into the bag.

"Blue Cherry Coke?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The report says you like blue stuff," he said sheepishly.

"Food for a chance to talk," said Natasha. Percy shrugged.

"Alright, what you people what?" he asked, popping open one of the cans. "You better hurry, I have something tonight."

"We want you to join the Avengers," they said, edging closer. Percy spewed out his Coke onto the sand.

"Say what?!" he sputtered.

"So what do you say?" said the archer.

"Uh, obviously no!" said Percy. They all looked shock.

"Kid, most people your age would kill to hear those seven words," said the guy with the goatee, shaking his head.

"Hey, you guys invaded our territory. And you're all total strangers," he said.

"First of all, I pretty sure you don't own that land. Second, hi, I'm Tony, the awesome billionaire inventor; and that's Steve, Clint, and Natasha. We good now?" He said grinning.

"You people are nuts! Stay away from me," said Percy, backing up.

"Look kid, we mean no harm," said Steve.

"Then why is that guy aiming an arrow at my heart," said Percy. They all glared at Clint.

"Ok kid, just tell us, why are you protecting that place so much?" said Natasha. Percy's mind just to many thoughts.

"The dead are buried there," said Percy hesitantly, "No one will disturb them, ever."

"Your victims?" said Natasha doubtfully.

Percy stared at the water. "My parents."


	4. Chapter 4

**Tony POV**

Tony cleared his throat. The sound disrupted the awkward silence.

"Sorry," said Steve. The kid's eyes flickered. He stared at the ground.

"Ok, so will you come with us kid?" Tony asked.

"No thanks," said Percy, turning away. He picked up his surfboard. Tony couldn't believe this kid. Usually, kids would freak out or snap a picture, and maybe ask for his autograph.

"Sorry," said Clint.

"For what?" said Percy puzzled.

"This," Clint shot a dart at him. The kid jerked to one side, but it caught him in the arm.

"Treachery," he growled. Two more darts found their way to his arm. He collapsed. Steve ran forward and caught him.

"I thought we were suppose to approach him peacefully," chided Tony. Clint shrugged.

"It was obvious the kid was never gonna come with us," he said.

"So we take him with us?" asked Steve.

"Right Capsicle," said Tony cheerfully, "I hope the kid doesn't blow up my tower."

**Percy POV**

Percy groggily came to. He was in a dark room; sitting in a chair with a door in front of him.

He had on a T-shirt and shorts. Percy felt Riptide in his pocket and sighed in relief.

Percy tried to rub his eyes, but his hands were chained to the sides of the chair. Percy tried to get up. The chair was bolted to the ground.

The door opened. A man with an eye patch walked in.

"How to do you feel?"He asked.

"I feel like I want strangle you people," said Percy. The man regarded him humorlessly.

"I am Director Nick Fury of SHIELD," he said.

"Let me go," growled Percy. He twisted in his chair.

"I am going to ask you a few questions," intoned the man. Percy fingered his bonds.

"Where am I," asked Percy. He glared at the man who ignored him.

"Where are you from," Fury asked.

"Earth, duh" said Percy.

"Where on Earth?"

"On land, eyepatch" Percy smirked. The man clenched his jaw.

"Which land?"

"The land between the Atlantic and Pacific,"

"Are you a terrorist," said Fury, changing tactics.

"Really?" said Percy.

"Don't dodge the question," yelled Fury.

"No, I'm not a terrorist," grumbled Percy.

"I'll take it from here Director, Tony is ready." Another guy walked into the room. Percy recognized his as Steve Rogers. He looked like the older version of Jason.

Fury nodded and swept out. "Come Percy," said Steve.

"You're letting me go?" asked Percy.

"Um, not yet," said Steve. He unchained Percy, but snapped handcuffs on him.

"Come on," he said, "Trust me; you'll want to hear this." Percy looked around for an exit as they walked. Somehow there were no windows, no doors, or vents. How was that possible?

Well, that left combat. This was gonna be difficult. Percy ran forward and barreled into Steve. He stumbled with a grunt. Percy flipped over and kicked out. Percy missed narrowly.

Suddenly, his head exploded in pain. Percy swayed dizzily, and temporarily saw stars.

"Sorry kid," he heard someone murmur. Percy felt himself being lifted up. Percy punched with both his arms, which felt weird. He kicked and lashed out. "Jeez, calm down kid!"

When his vision came back, Percy was in a huge conference room. A huge table was in the middle. Windows made up one wall. He recognized all his kidnappers sitting around the table.

"What took so long?" asked Tony irritated.

"The kid put up a fight," said Steve, rubbing his elbow.

"Spare me the details," interrupted Tony. He turned to Percy.

"So, I have put together a presentation about why you should join us," he said proudly.

"You're all crazy mutant kidnappers!" yelped Percy. He got up.

"We have food," said Clint. He shoved over two pizza boxes and a six pack of soda. "You can have whatever you what as long as you sit tight."

Percy shrugged and sat back down. He was pretty hungry. And it would take forever to find Jason to have him unlock the cuffs.

"Ok, so if you join us," said Tony, "you can live in this awesome tower made by me!" Percy shrugged and continued munching on pizza.

"And you will get to sleep, eat, ad train in the same building as me!" said Tony proudly.

"Really?" said Natasha. Percy waved him on with a pizza slice.

"Ok, well if you join us, I'm sure Fury will pay you, he is totally desperate." said Tony switching slides. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"You'll get all the food you can eat," interrupted Natasha.

"SHIELD can erase your black record and stop bothering you," said Tony. Percy pondered that.

"You can save the world and be famous like me," said Tony. He switched off the projector. "Soooo," they all looked at him expectantly.

"Uh –"

"Hey!" interrupted Clint, "You ate all the pizza!"

"So?"

"We never thought you were gonna finish it all! There goes my lunch!"

"What is your answer," interrupted Natasha.

"Its – gah! What is that" Percy shielded his eyes from the sudden glint. He got up and stared out the window. His mouth dropped opened.

"Oh that," said Tony coming over, "That's just the shipment of my new metal alloy." Percy widened his eyes.

"Can I use the bathroom?" said Percy hoarsely.

"What?!" said Tony startled, "Um ok, down the hall to the right."

Percy ran down the hall. He dashed into the bathroom and locked the door.

He turned on the faucet and opened the window so a sliver of light hit the mirror. "O Iris please show me all my friends. I pay you back double next time whatever, Just cal them in."

A rainbow shimmered and seven faces formed in front of Percy.

"Yo Perce, what's up?" Leo grinned through the feed, waving a flaming hammer.

"Guy, get the Avengers tower now! It's an emergency!" whispered Percy. He cut off the connection and went back into the conference room. Nick Fury had joined them.

The Avengers were whispering to each other. They abruptly stopped when they saw Percy.

"Well, what's your answer kid?" asked Tony.

"Um, first I have some conditions," said Percy nervously, glancing at the clock. He had to stall. "Uh, first of all, I want, er –"

Just then, all his friends stumbled out of a shadow. They were all dressed for battle with masks and hoods. "Uncle Leo's gonna bust some heads!" yelled Leo. He jumped on Clint with a flaming hammer.

Around Percy, his friends drew weapons. "Wait," yelled Percy. Leo froze. His friends shifted slightly.

"You're not in danger? Then what are you doing here?" asked Frank quizzically. He lowered his bow slightly. Leo apologetically got off Clint, who groaned.

"No, despite the fact I was kidnapped and shipped almost halfway across the country, that's not why I called you," said Percy. He motioned outside the window. They gathered around, peering out.

Piper gasped. "Guys, is that –"

"Celestial Bronze. Four trucks full of it," marveled Leo. He pressed against the window.

"Um, why are you staring out there," said Tony. Percy turned around to see all the Avengers in battle stances. Even Fury had a gun drawn out.

"Why did you alert your friends," asked Natasha threateningly.

"They needed to see this," said Percy. "Don't worry; we won't like, attack you or anything." They didn't look like they bought it. Well, except Tony. The billionaire strode over and looked outside.

"Are you staring at my shipment of metal?" he said.

"Where did you get it?" asked Reyna. She tried to sound casual.

"Oh, some building in the West. I was gonna build a new building there, then the next day, the contractor says they found metal while they were demolishing it. I wouldn't have really cared, except it had distinctive qualities.

For example, one the guys threw it at another and it went right through him. But they could physically touch it. So, I had them all melt all the metal into cubes and ship them over here. You know, I think there was some gold there too, but that's coming next week." said Stark.

"Wait," interrupted Fury," Why didn't you tell SHIELD about this?"

"Oh, like you people tell _me_ anything." said Stank indignantly. Fury looked like he was gonna strangle Stark any minute.

Percy frowned. He couldn't let the mortals get their hand on the metal. Who knows what could happen. He snapped his fingers.

"I have a great idea," Percy exclaimed. He grinned.

"Ok, I'll join you people, but, I want ownership rights to all that metal. I want to keep it all. Oh, and this too," Percy grabbed Reyna's spear. He pointed at the Imperial gold tip. "If you people find this, it all goes to me."

The Avengers all looked baffled.

"Wait, what?" Leo asked.

"The Avengers wanted to recruit me," explained Percy. He switched over to Greek. _"You know we can't let them have that bronze," _he said. Percy looked at the Avengers expectantly.

"Hey, why wasn't I invited? I'm like, the awesomess one of the group!" exclaimed Leo.

Fury looked like he was pondering the idea. "Alright, you can have it, but you are not to use it to make weapons of mass destruction, or anything that hurts humankind." Tony made a sound of protest, which Fury ignored.

"Deal," said Percy.

"And I want your friends to be recruited too."

"Excuse me?" said Reyna. Her hand drifted over to her dagger. The Avengers looked shocked as well.

"I want all of you to be part of the Avengers Initiative." Fury repeated. "You will live here and the Avengers will keep an eye on you."

"Wait a minute," began Natasha.

"Can we talk about it," asked Percy. Fury nodded. They huddled in a corner.

_"So, what do you think?"_ Percy asked.

_"No way, man. Perce, I have a machine shop to run," _complained Leo.

_"I have a photo shoot in Milan and a movie premiere." _said Piper_. "And I hate Tony Stark!" _She glared over her shoulder at him.

_"I have to be at an ISEF competition in two weeks," _said Reyna.

_"I can do it if we have to. I just quit my job," _said Jason. Frank shrugged.

_"I have nothing too," _he reported.

_"I'm free," _said Nico gloomily. He edged closer to the shadows.

_"I really don't care, but what about the press. A teenage millionaire becomes an Avenger?! Really?!" _said Hazel.

_"But we can't let them get the metal," _insisted Jason. They all grimly looked at each other. . .

**Clint POV **

We all watched the huddle off in the corner. They were whispering, but Tony was positive they were speaking in a different language.

"Fury, you can't be serious about this," said Natasha. "What if they attack us?"

"Because we have what they want. They only kill their enemies. If you befriend them SHIELD can gain some new highly trained assets." Fury nodded to himself. Natasha didn't look convinced at all.

"Hold the phone," said Tony. "That is my metal we're talking about. I own it, not SHIELD. You have no right to –"

"I can do whatever I want," said Fury. Tony sputtered.

"But what about my tower? I'm sure we can handle one kid, but the whole gang? I'm cannot build another tower! You know how much the remodeling team took out of my budget!" yelped Tony. He paced around the room.

Clint glanced at the kids. They looked like any other group of teenagers. He saw one of the girls shoot a glare in Tony's direction.

"Looks like one of them isn't an Ironman fan," said Bruce. Steve smirked, while Tony looked very offended.

"Isn't that the one that called you egotistic and a jerk?" said Natasha. Tony scoffed.

"She has no taste. Probably lives with a gaggle of Capsicle fans so she learned to hate me. Yep, it's probably just her genes," said Tony, nodding to himself.

We all rolled our eyes.

"OK, we agree to your terms, but we have a few conditions," said a girl. She glared us down through her mask.

"What are they?" asked Fury.

"We get paid," said Percy. "We send you the account."

"We own all the bronze and gold," said Leo, "um, the ones we're talking about."

"We get all of it. If we even find a single piece hidden from us by you, the deal is off. And we will take vengeance," said the girl who had the gold tipped spear.

"And if we have to live here, we can leave the building anytime. You don't control us, we're not going to obey you people like dogs," said a boy, "we have lives you know."

"Well, you have to halt those lives. You can leave as long as it is within reason. Oh, and you can't go around killing people, even if they are evil, unless we say you can," said Fury.

"Huh, wow, ok fine," said Percy. One of his friends made a muffled sound of protest.

"Oh, and we get food," piped up a girl, "whatever we want right?" Fury nodded.

"Hey, so if I want sushi from a remote part of Japan I'll get it?" said one of the boys, laughing. Fury's face was expressionless, but his eye was twitching.

"I think this covers it all," said Leo.

"You are not to attack the Avengers at anytime," said Fury.

"And you can't torture us or attack us either," countered the girl. Fury nodded.

"I have business to attend to." He said, "You will reveal yourselves to the Avengers and show them your powers. Natasha, I expect a full report of their abilities." She nodded.

"Hey, wait a minute," said a girl, "We don't want our pictures plastered all over the internet. We'll never be able to lie low ever again!"

Fury sighed. "SHIELD will do everything in its power to protect your identity. And the Avengers won't reveal your identity to the world," he looked expectantly at Tony, who gave him an offended look back.

"We have a deal," said the girl. Fury and she shook hands. Then he swept out.

**Percy POV**

We stared at each other awkwardly.

Finally, Tony Stark cleared his throat. "So will you take off your masks? Kinda weird talking to kids who seem like they don't have faces . . . You do have faces right?" Reyna growled.

Jason took off his mask, nodding at Steve Rogers. He nudged Piper. She sighed, taking off her mask.

"Hey, I know you!" exclaimed Tony.

"You do?" said Steve skeptically.

"You're Piper McLean, that teenage Hollywood star that's super into going green. You were at my Christmas party! You sponsored the tower- er, the _original_ tower that ran on cleaner energy." Piper glared at him.

"You also said some not so nice things to me," recalled Tony. Piper crossed her arms and looked out the window.

Frank took off his mask. "I don't know you," said Tony.

Frank shrugged. "I'm Frank Zhang."

"You sure are," said Tony dryly.

"Americans," grumbled Frank, shaking his head. Percy was a little offended by that.

Hazel removed that mask.

"Oh," said Tony excitedly," I know you. You're Hazel Lévesque. You're that millionaire heiress." She frowned, but nodded.

Leo took off his mask in a flourish. "Er, don't know you," said Tony.

Leo looked _very_ offended. "How could you not know me? I'm am awesomeness person ever. I'm LEO VALDEZ, bad boy supreme! Everyone luvs a bad boy," he said grinning manically. The Avengers stared at him.

"Remind you of anyone Stark," said Natasha. Clint looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"No, not in particular, why?" asked Tony. Everyone whistled innocently.

"I'm Reyna," said Reyna, removing her mask. She stared the Avengers down.

"That one is a warrior," said Natasha.

"What is your last name?" asked Steve. Reyna glared at him murderously, causing him to wince.

"Ok, no last name," said Tony, "Wait a minute, I know you too!"

"Of course you do," muttered Natasha.

"You're that kid prodigy. You were in the paper a few weeks ago." Tony said.

"My last name is Grace," said Jason, "Ok, that wasn't helpful, just thought you wanted to know."

"Nico di Angelo," said Nico, taking off his mask.

"Looks; like we got all of you," said Bruce.

"Now introduce you," said Reyna.

**Natasha POV**

"Oh, allow _me_." said Leo, "I did some background reading on them after our fight; hacked into a few places." The kid looked like a tiny Latino elf on a sugar craze. He looked around fourteen years, and had a goofy smile.

He marched over to them.

"This guy," he pointed at Bruce, "is Bruce Banner. He is a sciencey Einstein kind of guy. He can also be a big green angry monster, which is AWESOME! He's called the Hulk."

"This guy," said Leo, pointing at Clint," is Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye. I personally, am calling him Katniss. He is a sharpshooter and assassin, or spy."

"This," he pointed at Natasha, "is Natasha Romanov or Black Widow. She is an assassin and spy. So, like the female version of Spiderman, or Cat Woman." Natasha frowned. The kid was so similar to Stark.

"That," he pointed at Steve, "is Steve Rogers or Captain America. He has super strength and a metal Frisbee. Guy's been frozen in time and woke up in the modern world. He's from like, the dinosaur times when TV was colorless and chicken nuggets weren't invented. Can you imagine?! Anyway, the guy's pretty famous. Even got a museum exhibit to himself, war hero, blah, blah, blah. I think Capiscle is the perfect name for this guy."

"That is Tony Stark or Tin Man – sorry _Iron Man_. He is a rich guy with battle in an iron suit that flies. He has a lot of goodies I would like to play with," said Leo gleefully.

"Who kid, stay off my stuff," said Tony.

"Whatever you say Tommy," said Leo, rubbing his hands together.

"You forgot –" began Bruce.

"No, I didn't. You just interrupted me. Anyway, the last member is Thor. He is the Norse god of Thunder. He has the giant hammer and is like Jason, if you know what I mean. Pikachu is a good name," said Leo, snapping his fingers.

"I don't like this kid,' said Steve.

"What do you mean?! I think he's perfect," said Stark, grinning. "JARVIS prepare the 1st gym. C'mon kiddies, the scary lady has to evaluate you."


	5. Chapter 5

_Ok, so this chapter will mostly have a view on some new powers the demigods have gained. I know it's kinda terrible, but fell free to suggest some powers they can attain. Thx for all ur reviews!_

**Percy POV**

We followed the billionaire to the training room. "Ohhh, you have a pool," Percy exclaimed. He jumped in, clothes and all. "I'll just stay here while you guys make their jaws drop."

His friends rolled their eyes.

"C'mon, let's make this quick. I have more than twenty files to type up." remarked Clint. Percy glanced up, to see the archer perched above them on one of the support beams.

"I'll go first," said Jason.

"Wait," said Nico. He glanced at the mortals. "What if they're not clear – sighted?" Jason frowned.

"What do you see?" he asked, drawing his sword.

"Um, a sword?" said Tony, rolling his eyes, "We aren't that old. My eyesight is perfect thank you."

"Yeah, I think we're fine," said Jason. He floated off the ground.

"Kid, we know you can fly? You had an aerial battle with me," sighed Tony.

"Um, can we move to the roof," asked Jason. Tony frowned.

"JARVIS, spilt the ceiling," he said. _The guy must have an AI,_ realized Percy. The ceiling split open above Clint, revealing a perfectly clear blue sky.

Jason flew out. He raised his sword. Dark clouds gathered above them, thunder crackling.

"Hey Jason, don't overflow the pool," yelled Nico. Jason gave them a thumb up. A gentle rain began to fall.

"So the kid makes it rain," said Tony sarcastically, "that's useful."

Lightning crashed down from the sky, an inch away from Tony. He froze, his hair sticking out slightly from static.

Jason flew down, innocently.

"So you're like Thor," said Tony slowly, "ok, we have some pros and cons." He stared at the scorch marks on the floor.

"I guess," said Jason. He raised his hands.

Winds whipped into the room violently. They swirled around the archer, lifting him up and carrying him to the ground.

"So you can: summon lightning, control winds, and make storms," noted Natasha. She was noting his abilities down on a tablet.

"Uh, yeah, that's most of it," said Jason, "and I can do this." He became a blur, and then disappeared altogether. A second later, he materialized back in the same spot, with a wallet in his hand.

"That's my wallet," realized Tony, "Give it back!" Jason tossed it back to him.

"What was that?" asked Natasha.

"I can go really fast when I'm flying. I'm good at stealing and I have an accurate sense of direction."

"If you say so,"

"My turn," interrupted Piper. "I'll need a volunteer."

"Have Stark do it," sniggered Clint.

"I rather not have daggers being stuck into me, thank you" said Stark with as much dignity as he could muster.

"Jump in the pool," said Piper, smiling. Stark jumped in right next to Percy.

"Climb out, punch the wall, then hug the archer." Tony obliged.

"What was that?" asked a bewildered Clint a few seconds later. He pushed away a very confused Tony.

"I can charmspeak people," said Piper, "I can convince you do certain things." She walked over to the plant in the corner. With a little wave, it immediately sprouted up toward the ceiling like a beanstalk. "And I can do that."

"Charmspeak and plants," noted Natasha.

"JARVIS, sent up a towel," said Tony. Percy felt kinda sorry for him.

"I go next," he offered. Percy willed the water to deposit him on the floor. Percy grabbed Tony's shoulder, immediately drying him off.

Percy commanded the water to form into hands. He froze them, and then melted them back into water. He twisted them into miniature hurricanes. Percy vaulted in one and willed it up higher.

He then dived onto the water. Standing on the surface, he twisted the water into tendrils.

Letting the water go back into the pool, Percy touched the surface of the water. Fire raced out from his fingers. It burned above the water for a minute, and then flicked out.

Clint's bow clattered on the ground. His jaw was wide open, and his eyes looked like they were about to pop out and roll onto the floor any minute.

Percy shuffled back, his face slightly red.

"So, can you order a pizza," asked Leo. The eight rolled their eyes. "What? I know you're hungry too!"

"This is normal for you?" sputtered Steve.

"Well, yeah, everyone's got to eat –"

"I meant about your powers. They don't freak you out?"

"Er, are they suppose too?" asked Leo. Steve looked like he was about to faint. He looked to his comrades, but they looked relatively normal.

"Let's face it Cap, this isn't the weirdest thing that has ever happen to us," said Tony dryly. Natasha nodded.

"I don't know Stark," murmured Clint. He stared at Percy. "Don't you think this is too much power for a fourteen year old?"

"Hey, we are perfectly mature and responsible," said Jason.

"Yeah, we're not little kids," whined Leo.

"My turn," said Nico quickly. He drew his sword and stabbed it into Leo's shadow.

"Not cool man," said Leo. Nico shrugged.

"Serve me," he intoned. The shadows thickened and swirled. The room rocked and shook. A skeleton hand erupted from the ground. Slowly, a full blown skeleton stood in front of Nico. Percy recognized his as Nico's zombie driver.

"God," muttered Steve. Poor guy looked like he was going crazy.

"Are you some sort of necromancer," yelped Tony. He and Clint scrambled away from the dead person.

"Don't worry, he's French," said Nico, looking pleased with himself. Steve fainted. Bruce and Natasha looked torn between examining the skeleton and helping their friend. Clint was still staring at the skeleton.

Tony dragged the unconscious guy over to the corner. "Don't worry, he's fine."

"I would have done a full summoning, but I don't carry Happy Meals on me," said Nico, "this is the first time tried summoning above ground level."

"Next," called Natasha.

Hazel stepped up. "I can't do much up here," she muttered.

Hazel placed her hand above the floor. It cracked slightly, before a familiar shield shot into her grasp.

"You can use Steve's shield," asked Natasha incredously.

"Erm, I can summon metals and gems," said Hazel. Tony looked at her with wide eyes.

"You can get me diamonds, or iridium, or VIBRANIUM!" he exclaimed ecstatically.

"Um, sure," said Hazel. She waved her hand. "And I can make illusions."

She misted up a table to disappear, and then stopped.

"Arion," she called. Percy mentally winced and glanced around. Hazel's horse could run on any surface, but Hazel had never tried summoning him 60 floors up.

She frowned. "I guess he's –"

SMASH!

Arion leaped down from above, smashing a sizable crater in the floor. Percy groaned.

"Arion!" said Hazel happily. She hugged the horse.

"What the hell!" yelled Tony. "What is a freaking horse doing here? And how did it get up here? Does it have an invisible jetpack we can't see?" He started circling Arion, mumbling under his breath.

Arion whinnied and reared up.

Percy winced. "Hazel, your horse has some _serious_ issues! Arion, you want me to wash your mouth with soap again?!" Arion snorted.

"Um, Tony, I think you should slowly back away from the horse," said Percy.

"Why?" Arion chomped a big bite out of the Shield. Tony's jaw dropped.

He backed away quickly, slamming into a wall. "Holy shit!"

"Don't worry, I'll repair it," cried Hazel, "I think I can, Please don't blame Arion. He usually prefers gold and grass."

"That's a super horse!" yelled Clint, "it just chomped up Steve's shield like a cracker!" Natasha was also staring at the horse.

"This is my friend Arion. He can run across any surface and he likes to eat metal, usually gold." Natasha nodded slowly.

"And he cusses like a crusty sailor," added Percy. "Maybe even worse."

"Arion, why don't you go graze," said Hazel nervously. The horse disappeared, leaving a trail of mist.

Hazel gestured quickly to Frank, who shuffled forward hesitantly.

"Um, ok, please don't freak out," he begged. The he morphed into a dragon. The mortals studied him. They didn't look as surprised, guess Arion upped their expectations.

"Kinda like Banner," remarked Tony, "I really would like to do some tests on you."

Frank turned back into a regular guy.

"So, you can turn into a dragon and shoot, right?" said Clint. Frank nodded.

"I can also play music, write haikus, and control the sun. I also know healing techniques."

"Sun what?"

Frank walked over to a patch of sunlight. He raised a hand, moving the beam across the room.

"Ok," said Natasha, typing a few keys. "What about you," Natasha indicated to Reyna.

Reyna threw her spear at a target. It pierced through the wall, stopping halfway. "Weapons and enhanced strength," she said curtly.

"A girl version of Cap," muttered Tony.

"Ha, saving the best for last, thanks guys,' said Leo cheekily.

Natasha didn't look impressed. Percy wouldn't blame her. Leo was scrawny when he was older, now he looked almost malnourished.

"Thank you, thank you," said Leo, waving at imaginary fans. He grinned.

"Hurry up," said Natasha impatiently.

"Sheesh, tough audience," grumbled Leo, "Don't worry lady, you'll get plenty of THE BOY ON FIRE!" He burst into flame.

"JARVIS activate the sprinklers!" said Natasha dully.

"What no! I'm fireproof, can't you see?! Why aren't you shocked?! This would have blown the roof off in Texas!" exclaimed Leo. He juggled some fireballs.

"Sorry, kid, it's cool, but not as amazing as the super horse," said Clint.

Leo groaned. "Upstaged by a cussing magic pony," he mumbled.

"Is that it kid, you can summon fire?" clarified Natasha. Leo nodded

"I'm also pretty good with machines."

"And we also develop more powers overtime," said Percy, "I learned to fire travel a few days ago!" Natasha nodded.

"Guess we're done here, I'll sent Fury the report." She walked out.

They all stared at each other awkwardly.

"Guess you're staying with us for a while," said Tony, "I'll show you your rooms. And please refrain from destroying this amazing building

It took them most of the night to move in. Percy was pretty sure Leo packed up his entire workshop in boxes and shipped them over.

Percy had finished unpacking. It wasn't like he had a lot of stuff.

His room took up one entire floor. A sea green bed took up one corner, with a black nightstand. A door led into a private bathroom. Shelves lined up one blue wall. A table and chair stood in another corner, with his Daedalus laptop.

Under the table were two boxes. They would remain under there.

Windows lined up one entire wall. Percy got a clear view of New York against the breaking dawn. He was pretty sure none of his friends liked it. New York brought back memories, and it was in the west.

"JARVIS, can you direct me to the nearest pool," requested Percy. Tony had introduced them to his AI. Percy was pretty sure Leo and he would get along great.

"Yes Perseus, please step into the elevator."

Percy stepped in. "For the 12th time, just call me Percy," he sighed as the elevator went down.

**Leo POV**

"Whoa, nice room," said Tony.

Leo pushed a stack of Celestial bronze sheets against one wall. "Yeah, I've got a lot of stuff." Leo didn't know why. He and the billionaire just got along great.

"Is this the bronze you guys wanted?" asked Tony. He fingered one.

"Yeah, we used this stuff a lot. It's pretty rare, but I can do a lot with it," said Leo.

"What's this?" asked Tony. Leo glanced over a pile of bolts.

"Oh, that's my sphere. I'm trying to add better helicopter mode to it," said Leo coming over. He fiddled with some of the wires.

"Whoa, are these the blueprints?" Leo nodded absently. "Kid, you're a genius!" Tony scanned over the notes and scribbles

"I know! I tried to tell New York, but they didn't get the message! How can anyone miss giant glowing letters on giant jumbletrones?!"

"I'm liking you better by the minute!" said Tony. "Can I –" He gestured at a half finish device.

"Huh, oh yeah sure," said Leo, "I think I got some tools in that box."

"So tell me about your friends," said Tony causally.

"Hmm," Leo frowned, "why?"

"Well, if you kids are gonna live in my tower, we should get to know each other better," said Tony smoothly.

"Right," said Leo shrugging.

"First lesson, don't call us kids. It's kind of offending."

"But you're kids? How –"

"Next question," interrupted Leo.

"Um, how about your parents –"

"Next," interrupted Leo again.

"But –"

"Look Metal Man," said Leo, "You hang with us, you stick with our rules. Pass me a screwdriver." Tony obliged.

"Anyway, here's a basic layout. Never call us kids. Don't ask about our parents or past. Don't ask for Reyna's last name. Percy has to live with a pool. We sometimes space out, it's normal. Never steal our food if you want to live, I mean it. Hmm, oh and give me Skittles."

"Say what?" mumbled Tony. He was typing quickly on his tablet.

"Give me candy. Piper never lets me eat any. Like a few candies are gonna kill me," he scowled.

"Ok…." said Tony, "JARVIS, send up a bag of Skittles?"

"Your AI can walk around?" said Leo incredously.

"No, I'm working on that though." An Iron Man suit walked in with a bag is candy.

"Candy!" squealed Leo. He ripped open the bag and poured the contents into his mouth.

"Whoa kid, slow down," said Tony absently.

"Trust me; a few sweets won't kill me."

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°10 minutes later°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"This is a good day. We meet some comic super heroes and join their little merry band. Then I get candy which is awesome. I feel normal, don't you? You got cash? I scoured your fridge and its full of rabbit food. What kinda people live on lettuce and carrots? The only decent food was Pop tarts! And the box was empty! You old caveman haven't lived yet. Piper might be happy though, she's vegetarian. You should eat Fonzies! You have more Skittles?! Are the walls turning rainbow to you?! I feel like juggling fireballs! Let's set the stove on fire! We should go to Canada! I speak French. I think?"

Tony rubbed his face. "Are you diagnosed with anything?"

"ADHD, dyslexia, I love candy!"

Tony rubbed his face.

"Here's a hundred kid. Get as far away from here as possible." said Tony hurriedly. Leo grabbed the money and stumbled out of the room.

"I'm taking your car! Don't mess up my stuff," yelled Leo. He jumped up and down.

"What! JARVIS, lock down the garage!" Leo stumbled up some stairs and hallways. He burst through a door.

"Hehehehe," giggled Leo. He stared at the jet before him. . .


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, how's it going? I caught up on the new movies this week, totally luved AoU! Had to make some changes to the plot line I had in mind. Anyway, feel free to tell me how to improve my story (or some scene ideas) via PM or comment. I literally read every single one. XD

**Leo POV**

It wasn't Leo's fault Tony gave him Skittles.

It wasn't Leo's fault only Bologna sold Fonzies.

It wasn't Leo's fault that he had to _borrow_ a plane to get there.

And it wasn't Leo's he _accidentally_ crash the jet – er _Quinjet _on its landing pad, _right_?

So that's what he told the angry man.

Judging from Tony's expression, he wasn't buying it. The landing pad was in ruins. Smoke billowed out from the wrecked aircraft and the engine was making gurgling noises. Shattered glass littered the floor, along with random pieces of metal.

Leo's head hurt from the sugar overdose. Was that normal?

"Whoa, what happened in here?" said Percy, stepping into the room with Steve. "Looks like a battlefield." He surveyed the scene.

"Tell me that isn't the jet," sighed Steve, "what did you do Stark?"

"I wasn't me?! Ask the kid what happened!" growled Tony. All eyes fell to Leo. He gulped.

"I might have accidentally taken this lovely jet to Italy," he said, grinning hopefully.

"Dude, seriously? Piper is gonna kill you!" yelped Percy. "Why even Italy of all places?!"

"I needed Fonzies! I went for six hours without them! I'm dying water boy, DYING!" wailed Leo dramatically.

"You could have just shadow traveled," said Percy.

"What is Fonzie?!" muttered Steve.

"It's THIS THING!" yelled Tony, waving a yellow and red bag of the chips, "The damn kid took my jet half way across the world for a bag of JUNK FOOD!" Percy snickered.

"It wasn't my fault! Blame metal man! He gave me the Skittles!" yelped Leo. "And Fonzies are worth dying for! Did I not mention that?"

"Ok, that is technically your fault man," said Percy, "I'm mean; who gives an ADHD kid candy totally had that coming. You need to upgrade your security. And Leo, don't call me water boy."

"I'm lost," said Steve slowly.

"The kid needs to be punished," declared Tony. Steve snorted.

"You crashed that thing twice last week! And a car." he muttered. Tony gave him a murderously look. Steve suddenly looked very interested in the wall.

"Burned," coughed Percy. Tony glowered at him too.

Leo suddenly tackled Tony.

"What –" Leo stuffed a chip is his mouth. Tony widened his eyes.

"You know what, forget what I said earlier," said Tony chewing, "you my new favorite person right now." Percy and Steve simultaneously rolled their eyes and left the room.

"So, what I'm hearing is, I get more jet privileges," said Leo, grinning ear to ear.

"Kid, you are never getting near my jet again." Leo pouted.

"But I am so buying this company," said Tony.

"I love living with rich people," said Leo, "I should have told Hazel to do this earlier."

"You have to fix my jet though," said Tony.

"Whatever you say Metal Man! Just let me get my tool belt! I had one of my automatons clean it." Leo loped out of the room.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°° Hours Later°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"Leo," yelled Piper. Leo winced.

"I'm a little busy Beauty Queen," he hollered back. "Giant planes won't exactly repair themselves!"

"Actually, I have robots that can do that," muttered Tony from under the engine. "But they're a little damaged from our last battle."

"Shhh," whispered Leo.

"Leo, get up here!" Leo plugged his ears. Over the years, he had learned to control Piper's charmspeak, sort of. "It's dinner time."

"Didn't ya hear lady? I'm currently on a Fonzie diet? Ask Fish-man!"

"What is she yelling about?" asked Tony.

"Apparently its dinner time," said Leo, "You know, you guys said we were suppose to eat dinner together peacefully, like get to know one and other." He snorted. When the eight ever had dinner together, it was like lions fighting over meat. There was a reason for gatherings only a few times a year.

"Huh, oh, that was Steve's idea," said Tony, "I personally couldn't care less. I hardly eat anyway. And I rather not be swallowing something while Miss Hollywood drills holes into my brain with her eyes."

"Piper isn't that bad," said Leo, "She just hates you after you demolished that forest in Peru."

"Wait a minute," said Tony, sliding out from underneath the belly of the plane, "She's angry at me for that. I think did that years before. Or was it 2 months ago?" He shrugged.

"Stark, get up here!" shouted Piper. Leo groaned as Tony's eyes glazed over. Tony stumbled out to the eating area.

"Hey, wait for me," grumbled Leo half heartedly, following him out.

They took the elevator down to the main floor.

"Wait, what am I doing down here?" asked Tony. His eyes had lost the glaze.

"Piper charmspoke you," said Leo glumly. Tony frowned. "Don't worry, it's not she'll boss you around every day." They went into the big living room.

"Hey Leo," said Percy. He was tapping away furiously on his phone.

"Aquaman," said Leo. He grinned. "What's for dinner?"

"Pizza," mumbled Percy, "and a Happy Meal for Nico."

"What?" said Tony.

"Nico just likes Happy Meals," said Leo. It was kinda ironic, the boy was anything but happy.

"We have brownies," said Percy, waving behind him. Leo grabbed one from the basket. Tony took one too, eyeing it suspiciously.

"Don't worry," said Leo, his mouth full, "they taste amazing." Tony took a bite.

"Where did you get these? I'll buy this company too?" said Tony, grabbing three more.

"Their original," said Percy. "We got the recipe from underwater fish ponies."

"Fine, don't tell me," said Tony, throwing his hand up.

"Hey guys, if you want food, you better get in here," said Jason, poking his head through the doorway. Percy jumped up and raced to the food.

Leo grinned. "Come on," he said.

**Percy POV**

Percy grinned. "How did you guys manage to finish all the pizza," cried Leo, "Even Percy only got in here thirty seconds before us!" He sifted through the empty boxes.

"Wait, there's some in here," said Tony, salvaging through the mess. He lifted the cover, and then wrinkled his nose. "Who ordered the veggie one?"

"Me, I don't eat meat," said Piper innocently.

"Figures," muttered Tony.

"Wait, some you made us come up her for nothing," complained Leo. Piper shrugged apologetically. Tony and she had a glare off, again.

"Um, just a random question," said Steve, "does that one always where full battle armor everywhere?" He gestured at Reyna. She rolled her eyes.

The demigods looked at each other. "Yeah, pretty much," they chorused.

Awkward silence filled the room.

"Sooooo," stared Clint slowly.

"Let me lay down some rules first," interrupted Tony.

"First, _none_ of you are getting anywhere near my jet, or car, except maybe Leo," said Tony. "You will not wreck my tower in any way. And you," he pointed at Piper," cannot glare at me all day long."

"Tony, those rules are ridiculous," said Natasha. "All of us will have to that jet and the girl can kill you for all I care." Tony gasped mockingly.

"And you live with a Hulk," pointed out Bruce.

"And you are perfectly capable of destroying this tower by yourself." added Clint. Tony looked like he was choking.

"As you can clearly see, I am forced to live with people who hate me," said Tony wildly to Leo.

"You invited us to come here," said Steve slowly.

Tony groaned. "You say that every time," he said, "Find a new catch phrase Grandpa."

"I don't think –"Leo started.

"Not you too," groaned Tony, "come on kid. These people are a bad influence on you." He strolled out the door, with Leo following behind.

"Seriously, _we're_ the bad influences?" said Piper exasperatedly.

"Well, maybe Clint," said Natasha slowly.

"Excuse me?!"

"You switched out the milk for glue last week," said Natasha.

"Ok, we get it," interrupted Steve. He turned to the demigods, who were fidgeting and squirming in their seats. "Are you kids alright?" he asked.

"ADHD," said Percy, "we get bored easily."

"I would really like to do a physical on all of you," said Bruce. "Are you all mutants?"

"No," said Percy, "Why in the world would you think that?"

"Well, you have seemingly natural abilities extremely beyond human standards," Bruce said. Frank coughed. The demigods looked at each other.

"Yeah, you kids wanna explain that?" said Clint nonchalantly.

"Not really," said Nico. He inched toward a darker area.

"So, what do you do around here? Just sit until the next big attack?" asked Reyna, changing the subject.

"Don't dodge the question," said Natasha. Percy flinched.

"Fine, you can classify us as mutants," Reyna snarled. She twirled a knife in one hand.

"Half mutants," corrected Frank uneasily. He was staring out at the sky.

Percy was nervous too. It wasn't every day that you called the gods mutants, but it wasn't like they seemed to care. The demigods didn't even bother to sacrifice food every meal anymore.

"Hmm, no, I don't think mutant is the correct term. You all look fairly human. Were you born with your powers?" Bruce rambled on, muttering words incoherently under his breath

"Shoot," said Steve, "Have you told your parents about where you are? They must be worried sick?" Percy clenched his fists. Across from him, Piper stiffened too.

"I'm going to my room," he gritted out. Hazel gave him a concerned look.

"Percy . . . ."

"Fine," he snapped.

Percy walked out, his head pounding. Vapor traveling into his room, he slumped down on the bed. The noise was getting louder. Black spots clouded his vision.

**No**, thought Percy fiercely, **Not now, not again**. He tried focused his mind. Screaming seemed to be coming from around the room. Blood was appearing onto the floor. The entire room swirled. Percy yelled. His head exploded in pain.

Percy collapsed onto the floor as a flashback tore through his mind.

_5 years before . . . _

_Percy trudged through the streets of Manhattan. The normally crowded streets were empty, like they were sensing the thick atmosphere. _

_"__Hey look, we'll get through this," said Hazel gently. Frank trailed behind them, on the lookout for wayward monsters. "She's in a better place Percy. No more suffering." _

_Percy nodded numbly. "How am I going to tell mom? Or her father?" His voice cracked. _

_"__Think of happy thoughts," encouraged Hazel. _

_"__Like imaging her face when she sees you've shrunk," suggest Frank. "Or not," he amended hastily, seeing Percy's expression. _

_"__You know, we've never met you parents," said Hazel, switching tactics. _

_"__Yeah," said Percy. He smiled wistfully. "They're awesome. My mom makes the best cookies." _

_"__Um, Percy, you live in an apartment right," said Frank. _

_"__Yep, should be ahead of us," said Percy. He stared at the sidewalk. _

_"__You know what," said Frank suddenly, "maybe we should come back another time." _

_"__Why, what's – oh gods," Percy's face blanched as he glanced up. The windows had bright red stains. Percy's heart pounded as he raced up to his apartment via fire escape. Jumping up two stairs at a time, he burst through his room to the kitchen. _

_Behind him, Hazel gasped. Smears of blood lingered on the floor. The stale air stunk worst than the Hudson. Percy stared at the scene in shock. His eyes followed a trail of red into the next room. Numbly, Percy walked forward._

_"__Percy, wait," Frank tried to stop him, but Percy shoved forward into the next room. _

_Paul sat in a chair, a newspaper in hand. A knife protruded from his chest, indicating he was stabbed from behind. His eyes were dry and his mouth parted slightly. Numerous red scars circulated his arms, like a knife had been used in cutting. _

_Sally lay sprawled across the couch seeming asleep. She looked peaceful, aside from the large axe wedged in her head. Dark red tinted her hair and her face rested on rusty stain. A note was stuck on the axe. _

**_A warning young hero, nothing was meant to last. I will watch as your world crumbles to ashes. Your race shall finally come to an end._**

**_– _****_The Dark One _**

_Percy collapsed on to the floor. The room shook as he unleashed a terrible yell. Outside, the sky darkened. Water miles away churned and boiled. _

_Tears fell onto the ground. Percy felt comforting hands on his shoulders. He stood up, sea green eyes flashing in anger. _

_"__I will kill you," he screamed at the ceiling, "I swear on the Styx. Your death will be in my hands!" The world shattered and Percy fell into darkness. _


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey ppl, sorry bout the late chapter. I read the entire mortal instruments series this week__J__. Maybe ill do a fanfic for that too, so amazing! Anyway, review after read plz! BTW I might change this chapter, it was kinda done on late notice. _

**Percy POV**

Percy woke up on the floor. Groaning, he rolled over and pushed himself up. He staggered out the door to the main floor, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey Arielle, sleep well?" Leo's usual morning words greeted him. Percy sniffed.

"Is that waffles?" he asked, "And coffee?"

"Nope, its pancakes and black decaf coffee. Your food senses are dulling mi amigo!" Percy rolled his eyes.

Steve was at the stove, obviously cooking. Tony and Leo sat at the counter. Natasha and Clint were standing off to the side, their eyes scanning the room.

"Why are you up so early," Percy yawned.

"Because they never slept," muttered Steve.

"Sleeping is overrated," said Leo airily. "Besides, I can't sleep once you give me a dose of caffeine." He tapped on his coffee mug impatiently.

"Um Perseus –"

"Percy," Percy corrected, "Didn't I tell you before?"

Steve coughed. "I wanted to apologize, for how I upset you last night. I didn't know it was a sensitive topic until your friends told me." Percy shook his head.

"No, you didn't upset me. It totally wasn't your fault. I just didn't feel so good," Percy said. He forced a grin. Leo shifted.

"Still," said Steve uncertainly. His eyes flitted over to Leo, who shook his head slightly. He fell silent.

"Where are your friends?" Natasha spoke up.

"Um, Reyna's in the training room. Frank, Hazel, and Piper are still sleeping. Jason is on the roof. And Nico's somewhere . . ." Leo trailed off.

"Well, if they want food, they better come up," said Steve. He dished up platters of food and placed them on the table.

Leo grabbed one and stuffed it in his mouth. "See ya," he mumbled.

"You're done?" asked Clint incredulously.

"I don't need to eat a lot," said Leo. "I told ya, I live on Fonzies." He laughed.

"Explains the scrawniness," muttered Clint.

"Leo! You need to eat more than that," a voice commanded. Percy turned to see the rest of his friends up. Most of them had bleary eyes. They shuffled forward, reaching for the caffeine.

"You guys look like zombies," commented Clint.

"Leo eat," ordered Piper. "You can't starve yourself." Leo snatched up two pancakes and dashed out of the room.

"So, what do we do today?" asked Percy.

"Well, if we have no mission, we stay here. Steve beats the crud out of punching bags or fights with Natasha. Tony holes up in his workshop or works in the lab with Bruce. And I train," said Clint.

"But what do _we_ do?" asked Percy.

"Er," Clint shrugged. "All Fury said is you can't go around sniping people. Or robbing banks."

"Joy," said Percy dryly. He turned to Jason. "You wanna spar?"

"Sorry man, gotta fly over to Seattle to check something," said Jason apologetically.

"Reyna?"

"Yeah sure, get ready to lose," she drawled.

"Whatever."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Stark, I was wondering if we can have an extra floor," she said, turning to Tony. "For extra things."

"Sure," said Tony, giving her a weird look. "But call me Tony, not Mr. Stark. I am not that old!"

Reyna nodded. "Ok, I won't try to respect my elders."

"I'm only some years older than you. Hey, how old are you anyway? All of you look around 13 or 14."

"Physically, we are fourteen by appearance," she replied curtly. She jogged off to the elevator.

"_Physically_? Wait a minute – that means you – wait – does, hey where you going?" He threw his hands up in frustration.

Percy watched as his friends went in separate directions. Tony gave him a hopeful look.

"I'll be in the gym," Percy said, quickly leaving.

**Steve POV**

"JARVIS, I want all the information you can find on those kids. Hack into SHIELD if you have to. Put all documents in a file." Tony nodded. Natasha frowned.

"What shall I label the file as, sir?"

"Hmm, just leave it as an unnamed file for now," Tony grinned.

"Um, Tony, isn't that an invasion of privacy?" said Steve.

"Pshh, it's obvious they'll never tell us their past. So I'm doing it the hard way. Now, I just have to figure out how to trick them into a physical and blood test."

"Tony, they won't share because we're outsiders," said Bruce, "It's obvious they only keep things between the eight of them. And it is very clear they don't trust us. Invading their past isn't exactly a correct thing to do right now."

"But I let them my tower! And they made a deal with Fury. That's pretty trustworthy." said Tony.

"Tony, we kidnapped one of them." Bruce sighed.

"And the deal was more of an alliance. They are on our side, but they don't have to like us." pointed out Natasha. Tony rolled his eyes.

"Hmm, all I hear is to go with my plan. Start searching JARVIS!"

**Reyna POV**

"Guys, they are on to us," whispered Percy, "I overheard them, they looking us up." The eight of them were huddled together in a corner of Frank's room.

"They won't find anything. Technically, I'm dead," muttered Hazel. Nico nodded.

"But it's gonna look really suspicious," Percy said quietly. Reyna considered the options.

"Leo, hack into SHIELD again. Try to smudge out our histories or add false information. If they really question us, tell them the cover story we prepared. Jason, help him sabotage pictures if they have those. We aren't going to blow a secret we've kept for years in a week! The rest of us, try to act normal. Piper, glare less at the billionaire. Stay below radar." Piper nodded. The others looked at each other solemnly.

"You got it boss," said Leo, grinning to lighten the situation. "Besides, how bad can we screw up?"

**Percy POV**

"You know, I can get use to this," said Percy. He leaned back on the couch. The extra floor Tony gave them a week ago was now filled with all their equipment.

Huge windows made up one wall, showing New York in the evening. A huge circular table was near the window, surrounded by couches. Piper and Hazel had decorated one wall with Hazel's paintings. The floor had a mini fridge. Celestial bronze laptops and desktops scanned for unusual activity within a 500 mile radius. A bookshelf filled with books stored emergency weapons inside its fake back. Backpacks filled with supplies provided an easy emergency getaway. Various tables scattered across the floor had blueprints and project notes. And that was only half of it!

"It's a little too peaceful," grumbled Frank from the corner. He was sharpening an arrow with a knife.

"Agreed, New York is like a monster hot spot. There's trouble brewing," said Nico.

"I know, but –" His next words were cut off by loud siren from one of the computers.

Reyna dashed over to the alert. "Huge monster group in Central park," she said, "it's larger than a normal pack."

"Maybe they went for hotdogs? I hear there's a great place near the area," Leo joked. Percy grinned.

She frowned, cursing slightly as her fingers flew furiously over the keyboard. "The readings are fuzzy. Something's blocking the waves from identifying them."

"I told you. It's probably the Mist. It's all wacky in New York." said Hazel.

"Hazel, do you think Arion would scout for us?" asked Reyna.

Hazel nodded and whistled for her pony. After a brief conversation with Percy, Arion left, leaving a trail of dust in his wake.

"He said he was already there. The park is full of empousai and venti. Apparently, they're digging for something. Mortals are clear from the scene."

"Arm up under," ordered Reyna. "And don't forget a silver weapon." They all scattered

Percy ran to his floor. He burst into his room and threw on his armor. This one was thin but strong alloy. Throwing clothes over the metal, he strapped on a dagger and knives and checked for Riptide.

He threw the door open, startling Clint, who looked like was about to knock.

"Oh, hi Clint," said Percy quickly, "I was just about to go. . ." He tried to slide out but Clint shook his head.

"Sorry to ruin your plans, but Fury called a meeting. 43rd floor, tell you friends." He left a Percy considering options.

Deciding it would be quick, Percy gathered his friends to the 43rd floor.

Fury stood at the head of the table. The adults sat at the table. Percy and his friends stood awkwardly by a wall.

Fury looked at them. "Why are you all armed?" he asked.

"Um, we were about to do combat training," said Percy. He bounced slightly in impatience.

"Well, I have a mission for you. In Central Park, there are monsters roaming around. They resemble those of Greek mythology." Fury pulled up some pictures.

"Are they a threat?" asked Tony. "Maybe the demons things are just hanging out." Behind Percy, Leo snickered.

Percy cringed. He wasn't over fond of empousai, recalling a certain creepy cheerleader.

"They seem to have vampire like prowlness. Two mortals were seen seemingly drained of blood. We'll need Hulk for this one." Bruce squirmed slightly.

"So, we need pounds of garlic and stakes," confirmed Leo, cue glare from Fury. Leo and Tony grinned.

"Will that work?" muttered Frank. He looked like he was seriously considering the suggestion. Hazel elbowed him.

"Oh, Cap, I fixed your shield," said Tony suddenly.

"What do you mean fixed?" Steve looked at him closely.

"You know what; I meant I cleaned it for you." Leo coughed.

"As I was saying," Fury glared at Tony and Leo, "I want all of you down there. Engage them in combat." Percy and his friends exchanged worried looks, knowing their weapons would have little effect.

"Is it absolutely necessary?" Natasha frowned as she looked over the pictures.

"Yes, get going Avengers." He turned to us. "This is a chance to prove yourselves."

"We don't have to prove anything." Reyna stared down Fury eye to eye – er, eyes to eye.

"Maybe your loyalty," He swept out the door.

"Is he seriously questioning my loyalty?" choked Percy. He, Jason, and Leo broke into fits of laughter.

"Yeah, what's so funny?" Clint glanced at them curiously.

"It's an inside joke," sighed Piper. She punched Jason lightly in the arm.

"Then let's get going," said Steve.

"Ayah Captain," chorused Leo and Tony.

"Um you want us to take you?" asked Hazel.

"We're taking cars," Tony nodded. "And I doubt you can drive."

"We take our bikes," said Piper. Reyna nodded.

"And for the record, we know how to drive," Leo crossed his arms.

"It's faster if we give you a lift," argued Tony.

Jason laughed. "Shows what you know. We'll race you there. I bet 20 bucks we'll get there first."

We all clambered out into the elevator.

"Jason, that really isn't fair," said Hazel.

"It might lower his ego though," grumbled Piper. The doors opened into the garage,

Percy cracked a smile. The Avengers didn't know, but Leo had customized their bikes to with sonic rocket boosters and motorized wheels. It was also weaponized. Bikes tend to be handier as they didn't need to stay on the streets.

"Race you," challenged Jason.

"You're on," Percy mounted his bike. Painted black and deep blue, his bike use to be a mountain crusher 2.0, before Leo modified it.

"JARVIS open the door," yelled Leo. "Go Leocycles!"

"Shut it Leo," they all chorused before zipping into the streets. Central park was about 20 minutes away. Cutting through alleys and sidewalks, they made it their in five.

"I win," Jason grinned. Percy shook his head.

"I'll get you next time."

"We're ten minutes early," said Leo, "I put a tracker on the car. They haven't even left yet. So, food?"

And that's how the Avengers found the eight of them, later.

"How did you beat us?!" Tony shoved a twenty into Jason's hand. "And have time to buy ice cream?!"

"We didn't know what took you so long, so we got food," said Leo.

"Let's get going," said Natasha, "throw away the gelato".

They trekked through the trees. Percy looked over the mortals weapons.

The titanium shield might do some damaged on the monsters, or at least knock them out. Clint's arrows would have much of an effect either. Tony's repulsor beams would probably kill them. And Hulk would knock them out. As for Natasha's guns, they were practically useless.

"So what's the plan?" asked Banner.

"Hazel, take Frank to higher ground. He can shoot and you can split the empousai up. Jason, take out the venti and cover us from above. Frank can help you if necessarily. Percy and Leo take left. Me, Piper, and Nico take right. Ready?" Reyna looked around.

"You forgot us," coughed Clint.

"Looks like the girl stole you job Cap," jeered Tony from his suit.

"Have you fought these things before? Because it sound like you have experience."

Leo stepped forward. "Now, let's not argue about this. Why don't we –"

"Shut it Leo," They yelled, then abruptly fell silent.

"You think they heard that?" He squeaked.

"Hazel, go now," urged Reyna. Percy watched Frank turn into an eagle, and fly off with Hazel on his back.

Monsters burst out around them. We grouped together in a circle.

"So what's the plan?" asked Leo.

"Wait," said Reyna. They eyed the empousai. Tension filled the air.

Suddenly, walls sprang up around us, dividing us and the monsters. The walls shifted and swirled, before two corridors opened up.

"Everyone, comms on. Now split!" We scattered. Percy and Nico dove into the left passage. . .

**Steve POV**

They stared dumbfounded as the kids split up. Steve stared at the walls that had appeared out of nowhere. They looked pretty solid.

"What just happen," asked Bruce.

"Tony, help the Jason. The rest of us, choose a tunnel."

Steve dove into the left one after the two boys. He ran forward, before smacking into something. A wall.

"Hey," greeted a voice. Steve turned. Percy and Nico stood before him. Percy had a sword out, its blade glowing in to dusk. Nico had a pure back sword.

"You probably wonder what's going on," continued Percy, like this happened every day.

"Explain later; just show me what to hit," said Steve, "though next time, a heads up would be nice." Percy nodded. They ran forward.

"We're not use to working with others," he explained.

"Miss me?" Natasha joined them.

"We'll have a dozen at the next corner," said Percy. He readied his sword.

They turned and charged. Percy's sword sliced through the first monster, turning it to dust. Nico began dueling another. Steve stared at the monsters.

They looked like princess demons from hell, with flaming hair, claws and fangs, and tattered dresses. One leg was bronze, the other was definitely animal.

"Hey, little help?" Nico grunted as one of the claws slashed cut in his arm. He drew am knife and stabbed the demon.

Steve threw his shield. It hit one of them in the head. She turned, snarling at his direction. Behind him Natasha leaped in action, drawing guns.

"Leave mortals," the monsters hissed. "Do not interfere." He felt his senses dull slightly. Natasha wavered as well.

"Ignore them," yelled Percy. He drew a dagger and slashed at the demons with double weapons. Steve shook off the sensation. He ran forward and slammed into the demon. He smacked his shield into the demon, who passed out cold. He then jumped another.

Natasha fired off bullets, but the demons ignored them. They seemed focused on the two kids. Percy fought like a whirlwind. His blades danced so quickly, it looked like streaks of light encased his body.

Nico fought slower. His dark blade seemed to absorb the monsters. He clutched a bronze knife in the other. Shadows on the walls seemed to dance in his wake.

Soon, only one stood. It edged backward, snarling.

"You cannot stop us. He will rise. We shall prevail once more," her eyes flickered toward Nico's blade. She seemed rather wary of it.

"Half blood shall –" Percy's blade slit her throat. With a wail, she exploded into dust. He turned around.

"You ok?" he asked. He glanced at Nico.

"I'm fine, I've had worst." Steve frowned at the long cut on his arm. Percy had bruises on him and his shirt was slightly charred.

"My bullets didn't harm them, why?" Natasha glared at Percy, "it's obvious you have fought them before."

Percy and Nico exchanged glances. "Only our weapons can kill them. But you did pretty well, considering you managed to throw off the charmspeak. It took us years to train our minds."

He cocked his head. "Hazel just said she managed to group all of them in once room. We're changing to a frontal assault."

"What?"

"Hazel is losing hold her on the maze. It will disappear soon," explained Percy.

"Wait, she did this?" Steve pounded the walls.

"Yeah, anyway, she'll open a passage for us in a minute. We charge, kill monsters. Got it?" Percy looked at Nico. He sighed, and pulled a dagger out his jacket, tossing it to Natasha. "You'll need a weapon to defend yourself."

She examined the blade. "What is metal is this?"

"We call it electrum. It a gold and silver alloy," said Nico grudgingly, "And don't dent it. I particularly like that one." Natasha shrugged and gave the weapon a few experimental swipes.

"Ok, let go," Percy readied his sword. He faced the wall. It shifted and morphed into a long corridor. He ran into the darkness. Nico looked at us, before going.

"They are more powerful than they seem," remarked Natasha. Steve slowly nodded. "Let's go."

**Percy POV**

Percy would have preferred to fight the demons without the Avengers. It would have been a lot faster and there would be fewer questions.

Around him, his friends were deep in combat. The empousai were fast, but they didn't seem in a hurry though. It was like they wanted to get killed. It was actually a small group, about fifty or so. He grunted as a dagger skimmed his side.

Percy threw himself into battle mode. His blades slashed and cut demons down. He impaled a knife onto another's head. Piper was countering the charms, so at least it was easier to focus on fighting. Percy stabbed anything that got in his path.

"Perce, stop," He halted briefly. "Man, we need that one for questioning," Jason said quietly, landing next to him. Percy gripped Riptide. Calming himself, he felt drained as his battle senses tingled down. He stepped back, pocketing his sword. He took several deep breathes.

"Feeling merciful half brats?" The empousa spat. She grinned nastily.

"Who sent you here? It was obvious you were stalling," Reyna held her sword at the demons neck. It gave a starchy rasp.

"Why, that is no way to greet an old friend. Perseus Jackson," She gave Percy a scathingly look.

"I don't – Kelli," Percy gripped a dagger, hissing, "You look different. Did the cheerleader squad kick you out? Thought Bob would've smashed some sense into you."

"Perseus Jackson, without your precious Annabeth, it seems you have forgotten tradition. I had no idea it was now common for half lings to associate with mortals." She eyed the Avengers. "They do look delicious."

"Percy, you know her?" asked Jason, uncertainly.

"Met her a few times. You'd think she reform slower," Percy growled. Kelli yawned toothily.

"This was a nice little reunion, but I have somewhere to be." She hissed and dissolved into flames.

"I hate it when they do that," Percy sheathed his dagger. Jason summoned some storm cloud. Rain started to fall on the flames.

The demigods stared at the smothering flames grimly.

"You kids owe us a big explanation," said Steve slowly.


	8. Chapter 8

**Percy POV**

They gathered in a tiny café called Takis. The owners were a little surprised to see them, considering it was around midnight.

Percy stifled a laugh as the waitress stared at the Avengers as she took their orders. All of them – minus Tony and Bruce, were still in their costumes. Meanwhile the demigods looked like average teenagers.

"Ok, spill," said Tony. The demigods stared at each other uncomfortably.

"I don't see what we have to explain." Reyna twisted her skull ring as she stared down each Avenger ferociously. Only Natasha and Clint held her gaze, before backing down.

"How about the demon girls?" Tony looked at Leo. Percy cleared his throat.

"Ok fine, we may have run into these things a few times before. They can only be killed by our weapons. Well, I think if you dropped a truck on one it probably would die, or if you threw it into a volcano, or –"

"We get it," interrupted Tony.

"Right, so yeah, we run into them before. They have flaming hair, creepy eyes, claws, fangs, funny legs, charmspeak like Piper's, etc. They really hate us for some reason." Reyna nodded, satisfied with his explanation.

They sat in silence. Then the food came. Mostly, it was sugary of highly caffeinated.

"No way," Tony pushed a donut away from Leo, "why did you guys get so much sugar? Are you trying to destroy my tower?"

"Hey, give us a break, we just fought a battle. We need energy," Jason downed two brownies.

"Junk food replenishes our energy," explained Percy, "Well, we don't know if it's scientifically proven or anything, but it works for us." He snuck in a bite ambrosia when no one was looking.

"Interesting," Bruce said, "Does that work with natural sugars of just artificial? I noticed you didn't use your elemental powers? Do they drain you more or does it come naturally?"

"We don't know. Yes, our powers can drain us if used excessively. But we didn't use them tonight because we didn't want to damage the area. I would've had to burst the main pipes for a water source, which would probably cause major plumbing problems." Percy turned back to the food.

"So why did you go easy on us when we first met?" asked Reyna suddenly. Percy frowned. What was she talking about?

"What?" Steve looked a little flustered.

"In our first fight in the woods, why didn't you fight like you usually do? Tonight, you showed more skills and techniques. All of you did, except the Ms. Romanoff. It seems like only she took us as a serious threat the first time."

The Avengers looked slightly guilty.

"You're certainly perceptive." Natasha gave what seemed like a respectful look to Reyna.

"Hey look," protested Tony, "when we first met, it seemed like you were a bunch of kids having a comic campout in the woods. You're sure didn't look like assassins or anything remotely dangerous. I mean come on; you guys were four feet tall! Of course, we think differently now." he added hastily after Piper's death glare.

"Hey I have an idea. Let's all just eat in silence, then leave, like _normal people_." Leo nodded at his own suggestion. Surprisingly, no one said a word after that.

"Is that all," Nick Fury stared down Reyna as she concluded her explanation of what happened. She nodded. He sighed.

"You kids never seem to tell the whole truth." She stayed silent.

"Can we leave now?" piped up Leo.

"No, we need to go over some new developments." Percy fiddled with Riptide. Meetings were so boring.

"We are going to split you up." Percy sat up at full attention. "Now, before you interrupt, let me talk. The council has decided the Avengers have gotten too inexclusive, meaning they disapprove that we let teenage assassins in.

So we are splitting you kids up. Four of you stay here. The other four will become honorary Avengers. They will go back to their ordinary lives, assisting us whenever necessary."

"Sweet, I wanna leave. Next stop, Houston!" (Leo)

"Wait a minute, I should leave. I have movie shoot in two weeks!" (Piper)

"Nope, it's me. Hawaii's waves are calling me." (Percy)

"I have already selected the four: Piper Mclean, Jason, Hazel Lévesque, and Frank. Before the rest of you start whining, let me explain why.

Currently, SHIELD is covering Miss McLean's disappearance. However, this is only temporary. So it is simpler to let you go back to your normal life. We will resolve to contact you only when you are need in action. The same goes for Miss Lévesque. Both of you are too important in the world to disappear without questions. (Tony looks ticked off at this statement)

As for Jason, son, we would like for you to become one of our agents."

"I'm sorry, could you clarify that sir?" Jason looked shocked.

"We want you to become a spy and assassin, similar to Miss Romanoff. Your thievery skills could aid us in recovering information. And we could send you a list of people you can kill."

Percy widened his eyes.

"I'll take the offer sir," Jason grinned.

"Excellent. We will discuss more later." Fury looked extremely pleased.

"Wait, what about me?" asked Frank. "Why do I get to leave?"

"I want you to become Jason's partner. Your shape shifting ability can be useful in eavesdropping or breaking into facilities."

"Alright I'll do it," Frank shrugged.

"I'll see you two at SHIELD headquarters in three hours." He left.

"My two besties leaving me. Just break my little heart," Leo wipes away an imaginary tear.

Jason and Piper roll their eyes.

"Wait, you guys are seriously leaving us?" Reyna looked shocked.

"We'll still be a team. Just further apart. And I've always wanted to be a spy." Jason grinned.

"It's reasonable Reyna. We never stuck to close in the past anyway, you know why" said Frank.

She sighed. "I know."

"We don't," said Steve, "explain."

"Nooo, Cap let them leave already." Tony grinned. "Less ninjas to destroy my tower. Repair boy stays here. And Sacagawea doesn't try to kill me with death looks. Yup, sound good to me. I'ma throw a going away party!"

"Well, it's nice to be wanted." said Frank dryly. "I'm going to pack." Piper and Hazel and Jason nodded. The four of them left.

"Can I have Frank's room?" asked Leo, breaking the silence.

They all stood in the garage after an hour of shipping luggage and packing.

"Well, guess I'm back on the road," said Jason.

"Send me a postcard," said Percy. He leaned against the wall.

"Yup, I'll be in Cancun while you're stuck here," Jason paused, "You'll be fine here right?"

"Sure, unless Stark throws me out." Percy laughed.

"Can I?" (Tony).

Jason rolled his eyes, walking away.

"Don't get killed," warned Reyna. Frank and Jason saluted mockingly, before hopping on their bikes and zooming off. Piper and Hazel stood in the shadows.

"We'll miss you." said Piper. She gave Reyna a hug. "Try to be less of a Stiff." Reyna laughed.

"Just stay safe."

"Will do sister," Piper and Hazel melted into the shadows.

"Well, back to our ordinary lives," said Tony cheerfully, "Cap junior, Beast Boy, and the rest are gone. We'll miss them, blah, blah, blah. Come on Repair Boy, you're helping me on a project." Tony dragged a protesting Leo off to the labs.

Slowly, the other trickled out.

Percy sat in the big conference room. Everyone looked rather bored, waiting for Fury to come in. He had called for the meeting two hours ago, saying it was mandatory. Percy's seat was becoming uncomfortable. Across from him, Reyna tapped a small knife impatiently. Silence dominated the air.

Nico and Leo were amusing themselves by playing miniature hockey game with pencils and an eraser. Percy stared at the eraser that whizzed back and forth, the same thing he had been doing for the last twenty minutes.

"Stop," Natasha looked very annoyed. Leo and Nico paid her no attention.

Reyna threw her knife, piecing the eraser and sticking it against the table. Leo and Nico groaned, mirroring twin sullen expressions.

"Can I go now?" asked Tony grumpily. Beside him, Clint had fallen asleep. Percy yawned.

Bang! The door slammed open. Fury strolled in.

"Finally," Tony exclaimed, "What happened eyepatch? Did you stop for lunch on the way here or something?"

"I assume you have a mission sir," Steve said.

"On the contrary Captain, I do not. I merely called the meeting to gather you all in one place. You have a new addition."

"Ohhh, who?" said Leo, "Is it Spiderman? I'm such a huge fan?" He bounced up and down.

"No," said Fury. Leo visibly deflated.

"Meet the newest Avenger, Clarissa."

A young tiny girl stepped into the room. She wore a tight black jumpsuit, streaked with red and silver. Various weapons were strapped to her arms and legs, ranging from small white knives to a hand gun. A sword in a scabbard hung at her side. A thick gold bracelet spiraled around one wrist. Her fiery red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, contrasting her pale skin. Brilliant green eyes scanned the room.

There were some very mixed reactions:

"Clary!" (Reyna)

"Rachael! You're alive!" (Percy)

"Hi!" (Leo)

"Hey Nat, I didn't know you had a little sister." (Tony)

Everyone rolled their eyes. Percy stared at the girl. Nope, she wasn't Rachael. She had the hair and eyes, but not the height. And her eyes were too calculating. They seemed to measure angles of attack and escape in the room. Her posture was alert, as if she was expecting an attack any minute.

"Hello." Her voice was cautious. She glanced at Reyna, her relaxing slightly. "Nice to see you again Reyna." Her mouth formed a tight smile.

"You know her?" Percy asked.

"Have a seat," said Fury. The girl stood as far as she could from them. "You want to introduce yourself?"

"Greetings, I'm Clary. Formerly known as Beta." She fell silent.

"Erm." Ok, so this was awkward. The girl seemed wary of them. She seemed to know Reyna though.

"Fury, I would prefer if you stop bringing teenagers into my building." Tony walked over to the girl. She visibly tensed.

"Um, Tony, I'm not sure –"

"Relax Cap, she's not gonna do anything. I'm like a foot taller." He patted her head.

The girl's eyes literally glowed green in anger. Her elbow shot backward, catching Tony in the stomach hard. He doubled over, gasping. She grabbed his arm, vaulting above him. Her body slammed him in to the ground. She jumped on his twice stomach for good measure, before stalking over to the other corner. Tony lay sprawled dazedly over the floor.

"Nat Junior," coughed Clint.

"Ahem," All attention turned to Fury, "Anyway, this is Clarissa. We recovered her after an explosion which destroyed Hydra's underwater base off the Gulf of Mexico. So naturally, we took her in and questioned her.

According to her, she was kidnapped around one and a half years ago when she was seventeen by HYDRA. They took her to one of their hidden training facilities. She has intense HYDRA training, along with a memory conditioning, which means she had her mind wiped. She also was experimented on. Apparently, HYDRA is trying to create an army of super soldiers."

He paused, and looked at the girl. Percy noticed that Steve had gotten super stiff.

"Then, I read my file one day and found out I was supposed to be dissected the next day. So I broke out with all my weapons and blew the joint." She fell silent once more.

"Ok, so she blew up a HYDRA plant. By why is she here? She's just another kid, er, no offense." said Clint

"Well, she is eighteen, so she is technically an adult. And she has certain abilities similar to other new recruits."

"Wait," Percy's head buzzed, "What do you mean she's like us?" _Was she a demigod?_

"He means I have telekinesis and telepathy." said the girl. She waved a hand. Reyna's knife and Leo's eraser flew into the air, doing a weird dance.

"Enough Clarissa, you may wait outside," said Fury. The girl shrugged and left.

"Are you kidding me Fury? You recruited a rogue HYDRA operative?" hissed Natasha. Fury looked solemn.

"The girl shows indefinite hatred for them, you can say she is more of a HYDRA rebel. Her skills will be quite valuable to the Avenger's Initiative. I also brought her here because the other teenagers here and help her stabilize her abilities."

Leo raised his hand. "Yes Leo," sighed Fury.

"What's HYDRA?" Everyone groaned.

"HYDRA is an evil terrorist organization Leo," explained Reyna. Leo made an_ 'oh'_ face.

"How did you that? And why did the girl recognize you?" asked Natasha.

"Basically everyone who's something in the criminal underworld knows HYDRA," said Reyna, "As for why I know her, I was there when she blew up the underwater plant, it was one of my missions at time. Who do you think supplied the explosives?" She leaned back. "We worked together, but got separated in the explosion."

"Wait a minute; I'm not letting that thing stay here. You saw what she just did to me," said Tony, dusting himself off.

"All she did was lower your ego," said Reyna.

"Nope, I'm still as excellent, great, and overwhelmingly handsome as before," said Tony smugly.

"For all we know, she could be an HYDRA agent undercover." said Clint.

"Good, then her presence here is good. You can neutralize her if she is a threat." Fury walked out, leaving Tony sputtering in anger.

Percy glanced over at Reyna. She motioned to the door. The four demigods slid out of their seats and into the hall. The girl stood there, leaning against the wall.

"Reyna," She said. They shook hands.

"We can talk on our floor. These are my friends, you can trust them," said Reyna. They took the elevator down to their common room. As soon as the door closed, Percy jumped to questions.

"Is she one of us?"

"You don't have to talk like that,' said the Clary mildly, "Reyna told me. I know you're all demigods." The three boys looked at Reyna.

"She was able to consume ambrosia. I thought she was a demigod. But she wasn't claimed, unless it already happened."

"So, have you ever had a weird floating thing over your head?" asked Leo. Clary shrugged.

"I don't remember."

"She's not a demigod," broke in Nico. He narrowed his eyes. "She doesn't carry the blood of the gods. But she is different from regular mortals."

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I can tell you what happened seventeen and above though." She collapsed onto a couch. Leo grinned.

"Looks like story time is about to start, should I make popcorn?"

**Hey readers, I hope you liked this chapter. I'm not sure if it's a good direction to take though, give me your thoughts! More chapters to come . . . **

**-ShadowfireX13**


	9. Chapter 9

**Percy POV**

Before Clary could say another word, one of the computers started screeching. Percy plugged in his ears, shouting, "Turn it down!"

Reyna ran over to check it.

"What is it? Chimera in the Bronx? Did Medusa try to take the subway again?" Leo grinned.

"Leo, help me," Reyna concentrated intensely on the screen, "the scanners malfunctioning again. I thought I told you to fix it!" We all gathered around the electronics.

"Let me see," Clary. She started typing really fast on one of the laptops, "HYDRA taught me a few tricks in computer programming." Percy stared at the screen, which had random number and letters flowing down. He and Nico were probably the only ones who didn't understand what they were looking at.

"Brooklyn Bridge park," breathe Clary, "That's as close as I can get." Reyna nodded in confirmation.

"JARVIS, bring up camera footage of Brooklyn Bridge Park," yelled Leo.

"Certainly Flaming Hot Master of Fire," said JARVIS. Video feeds began popping up on the flat screen TVs. They showed footage of the park from various angles.

"_Leo, you wired Stark's AI into our system_?!"Reyna looked like she wanted to strangle him. Leo edged way from her.

"I rewrote his codes so Stark can't get into our system. All traces of involvement will be automatically deleted," he mumbled.

"Hey, its looks pretty empty," Nico was studying the screens, "I thought mortals loved going to the park. These are live feeds right?""

"I think they're doing renovations this month," said Percy, "something about a new playground being built." Percy pointed at another image, his throat suddenly dry, "Monsters. Huge group, with catapults and towers. Seems like they're prepping for a huge battle. Do monsters war against each other?"

"There's a cage," Clary was pointing at one of the feeds, "I can't see what's in it though. And there is fog everywhere." _If it's Hera again, I'm letting her stay in that cage, _thought Percy grumpily.

"We'll have to sneak in," said Reyna, "Gods, why could Jason and Piper leave another day? They're better and being inconspicuous than us."

"We can go at night. It'll be dark and shadow travel would be easier," said Nico.

"Yeah," agreed Reyna.

"I'm going," declared Clary, "You'll need someone to pick the lock on the cage. Plus I can fight." She tapped her sword.

"Fun," said Leo grinning, "So what do we do until then?"

* * *

"Shhhhhh," whispered Nico. Percy crept along with his friends. They all wore black jumpsuits with multiple weapons attached. Their faces were painted black, and Clary's bright red hair was hidden by her hood.

Leo was crouched next to the elevator with his tools. He was working on the elevator controls in the Avengers main room.

"Hurry up," muttered Reyna. Percy glanced at his watch. It was almost midnight.

"Let me concentrate. I need to rewire it or JARVIS will know and trigger the alarm," hissed Leo.

Suddenly the lights came on. Leo cursed. "LEO, _what are you doing_?" Reyna looked really nervous.

"What's going on here," Natasha stepped into the room. Leo shrieked in surprise, dropping his wrench. They all froze. She glared at them. Then the alarm came on. They all cringed at the ear – splitting screech.

Clint and Steve burst into the room. Clint had an arrow notched and Steve had his shield in throwing stance. Bruce and Tony staggered up a few second later. They stared at each other for a few seconds. Tony laughed and sank onto the couch.

"Look who got caught red handed sneaking out," Tony leaned back.

"I knew we should have sky dived from the roof," muttered Clary.

"Hey, guys, I think I just accidentally connected this one over wrong," Leo said. He shrank back from their glares.

"What are you doing?" Natasha noted their weapons. "I thought Fury said no more assassinating people. Or robbing banks."

"We're not doing a mission," said Nico. "Just going to the park. . ."

"At mid-night? Dressed like thieves?" Clint rolled his eyes.

"Fine, you got us," said Percy, "But we're just going to dispose of some monsters."

"Like what we fought the other day?" said Steve. Percy nodded. Reyna kicked him in the leg.

"You know, the whole purpose of being on a team, is to work together."

"But it's a small group," protested Percy. He tried to look convincing. "We can take care of it."

"Too late, we coming with you," said Steve. Percy mentally cursed himself.

"Do we have to? I rather work on . . ." Tony stopped at Steve's expression, "I'll get my suit."

"It's not responsible to have assassin teenagers running all over New York," said Steve, shrugging on a jacket.

"We're perfectly responsible," said Percy indignantly.

"I really rather sleep," yawned Clint. He shrugged on a sheath of arrows. Ten minutes later, they all stood outside the building.

"Why aren't we taking the cars?" said Tony.

"We're shadow traveling. Grab a partner and from a circle," said Reyna. She grabbed Clary's and Natasha's' hands. Percy joined hands with Leo and Clint.

They reappeared across the street from the park, on top of a building, the Avengers looking slightly woozy from traveling the first time.

Below, they could see the entire expanse of the park. The monsters had turned the construction area into a war base.

Four towers flanked in the four cardinal directions. Trenches and spiked pits zigzagged across the land. Catapults and ballistae crossbows gleamed under street lights. A shallow moat surrounded the entire thing.

"You said it few, not a freaking army base," hissed Natasha. Percy shrugged. He mapped out the entire base in his head. Its set up was a little familiar.

"I can't find any weak points," said Reyna. She was scanning through binoculars with a grim expression. "I wish Hazel was here, we'll probably be able to go underground or walk there misted up."

Percy swore under his breath. Reyna frowned. "I know this layout. It was one of Daedalus's plans," Percy frowned.

"But I don't recognize it. I've studied all of the laptops," said Reyna. Percy stiffened.

"It was on Annabeth's computer," explained Percy, "I wonder how they got it."

"Any weak points?" asked Reyna changing the subject.

"We could shadow travel into the middle their fight out way out. Or we could take north flank, as long as we knock out the tower. Leo's bombs could trigger the mines," said Percy. "Or we could shadow travel to the cage and take it with us out, as long as we avoid the mines."

"I don't get it," said Tony, "can someone tell me what's going on?" Everyone ignored Tony.

"I say we blow the joint," said Clary. Reyna bit her lip.

"All in favor of destroying the whole thing?" she asked. Percy glanced around. Everyone seemed to like the idea, except Tony. You would think a genius would catch on quicker.

"So what's the plan," asked Tony. Clary frowned.

"HYDRA taught me you were the genius. Is that correct?" she asked. Tony looked highly insulted.

"We'll have Hulk take out the North tower. Clary and Clint can take out the crossbows and disable the catapults. Leo, disable the mines. Nico, get some skeletons to cover Leo. I'll give you a boost.

Percy, cause a distraction with the moat. Steve and Natasha will be on the ground with you. Tony covers you from the air. Got it?" Reyna looked around. Everyone nodded.

Percy grabbed Steve and Natasha, disappearing into a shadow. They reappeared right before the moat. "Ready?" He asked. Steve and Natasha nodded. Tony in his suit flew into the air.

Percy yelled. The water rose from the moat. Percy waved his hand. The water surged forward. It slammed into the towers sand catapults. Water flooded the pits and trenches.

Percy collapsed. Monsters ran forward toward their little group, swinging weapons and roaring. Steve and Natasha ran forward to engage the monsters. Tony blasted monsters in the air.

Percy crawled into a trench filled with water. Strength surged into his limbs. He rose in his miniature hurricane, swinging his sword. Monsters howled as he cut them down. Winds and water whipped around him, providing a shield. He heard explosion in the distance, probably Leo blowing up the mines.

Around Percy, monsters fell. Hyperborean giants blew at his tornado, adding chunks of ice that swirled with the water. Laistrygonian giants were crashed by chunks of ice. Hell hounds dissolved into dust. Dracaenae panicked and ran.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Steve smashing through a pack of telekhines with his shield. Natasha was punching away with some cyclopes. Above, Tony battled Stymphalian birds. Percy could hear him cursing as the metal feathers scratched his armor.

Soon all that was left of the monsters were dust. Percy let his hurricane, dissipate. He staggered, is legs feeling like jelly. Percy snatched a broken spear, using it to prop himself up.

"You ok?" Tony landed next to him. Steve and Natasha ran up, they looked exhausted as well.

"Yeah, just a little drained," said Percy. He exhaled slowly. "Come on," He discarded the stick and walked forward toward the center to the cage.

"You look pretty beat up kid," said Steve. Percy shrugged; pretty sure only his shirt was tattered. Soon, he saw the cage. His friends were crowded around it. Leo and Clary were working on the locks. Reyna stood off in the side talking to Nico and Bruce.

"Hey," he said, "What did I miss?" He walked over to the cage. It took a minute for his brain to register what he was seeing. Percy reeled back in shock.

"_Hebe_?" The last time he had seen the goddess, she had turned him and his friends to 14 year old kids that never aged. She had been overly cheerful and smiley.

Now, her golden hair was gray. She wore a wrinkled Greek chiton, with a lusterless silver belt. Her hands were chained and her eyes had a wild crazed look. She looked like a crazy old lady that slept on the street, like her youth was drained out of her.

"What happened to her?" he gasped.

"Wait, you know this lunatic?" asked Tony, "No offense." Leo snapped the chains off.

"Lady Juventas, it is an honor," said Reyna.

"Who is she?" repeated Tony.

Hebe stepped out of the cage, her eyes darting around like a cornered animal.

"Lady Hebe –" Nico started. She shrieked. They all winced at the sudden noise.

"Child of Rome," she wheeled of Reyna, "why have you summoned me?"

"What?" Reyna looked confused. "But . . ."

"He chained me for years, why has he brought me to you? That old fool thought he could contain me but I'm free." She cackled. "That'll show him!"

"She's nuts," muttered Leo.

"DO NOT DISRESPECT ME CHILD! I have seen, I have news. He lurked in the dark, hid in the shadows. But I found him, he gazed his plans. He will conquer you all, he has the power." She hissed. "I am the message. He sends the beginning."

"What is she blabbering about?" asked Tony. Leo shrugged.

"Please, Lady Juventas, who are you tal–" She cut off Reyna.

"I am the beginning." She screamed. "I am –" A flash of blue light hit her. She disappeared, like she was never there before.

"Was that supposed to happen?" asked Leo. Percy felt something change inside him.

"There!" Reyna yelled. Percy turned, Riptide in hand.

A lone figure stood in the moonlight, several yards away. It was a girl, judging from the physique. Her hair shone white under moonlight, a mask hid her face. She held a gun in their direction. They all tensed weapons out.

"She's giving off major death vibes," warned Nico, looking paler than usual. The girl inclined her head, and then melted into a shadow.

"Ok, that's it, you kids are gonna tell us everything," yelled Natasha, "what is going on?! And why did you grow taller?"

Percy glanced at himself. He didn't feel taller. He looked at Reyna. He widened his eyes. Reyna looked seventeen again. Leo and Nico looked back to normal too, er, less short.

"When Hebe disappeared," Percy trailed off.

"She took her blessing with her. She literally faded like Pan," said Nico. The son of Hades looked vaguely mystified and disturbed.

Percy swallowed.

* * *

"You are going to tell us everything," Natasha's gaze could have drilled through glass. Percy ignored her, a million thought running through his head. Nico was staring out the window, his eyes glazed. Leo was bouncing up and down in his seat, making Reyna frown

Just then, Piper appeared in an Iris message. "You guys care to explain why I turned 15 in one night?" Clint yelped, staring at the rainbow message in the room.

"That's an Iris message," said Percy. Tony was waving his hand through it.

Jason and Frank appeared in a rainbow next to her, along with Hazel. "What's going on?"

"Start talking," barked Natasha. Percy noticed the rest of the adults edging away from her.

"Okay, everyone calm down. We'll go one at a time," said Reyna.

Then JARVIS interrupted. "Sir, Ms. Potts has returned from England."

"Now?" Tony groaned. "This is a really bad time."

"And Thor has just landed on the roof," finished JARVIS. Tony threw his hands up.

The elevator made a pleasant ding sound. A lady with a brief case walked into the room. She glanced at us curiously. "Tony, why are there kids in here?" Percy assumed she was Ms. Potts. Tony was too captivated by the Iris Message to pay her any attention.

Another guy came down the stairs. "Friends, I have –" He stared at us, incomprehensibly, in shock. Percy assumed this was Thor, the Norse god of lightning. Good thing Jason wasn't here, Thor looked like he was dressed for war.

"Tony, why do they have weapons?" The lady looked really impatient.

"Demigods," breathe Thor.


	10. Chapter 10

**Percy POV**

They all stared off each other. Ms. Potts looked like she was gonna pummel Tony if he didn't start talking. The demigods all looked at Thor, who looked like he was torn between excitement and fear. He had a big smile on his face and the hand holding the hammer was trembling.

Finally Clary broke the silence. "Well, this is nice and all, but we've all been standing like this for half an hour and I'm getting bored." She perched on a stool, studying us as she fiddled with a pocketknife.

"Thor, you know these kids?" Natasha's eyes flitted over to him briefly, before flying back to the demigods.

"Tony, what is going on?" Ms. Potts stalked over to the billionaire.

"Uh . . . . Pepper, don't get mad but . . ." Tony was struggling for words.

"Who are these kids?" She stared at Leo, who was now standing next to Tony with a screwdriver. "And why are some of them armed?"

Leo grinned innocently. "Well, Ms. Potts, it all started when Tony kidnapped my friend Percy. Naturally, we reacted by attempting a rescue mission. Then, he kept me hostage here to steal my genius mind." Leo put on his most innocent look.

Pepper looked furious. "Tony! How could you?" She glanced at Leo softly, "Don't worry honey; Tony was going to let you leave right now." Tony's jaw dropped. "And you can call me Pepper." She added kindly.

"Leo, you're making this worse," groaned Reyna. "You can ignore him, we're all staying here on our own free will," she said to Pepper, "What he meant was we are the newest addition to the Avengers initiative." When Thor heard that, his smile widened even more.

Pepper looked horrified. "How could they recruit teenagers?"

Nico frowned. "No offense lady, but most of us are considered adults by the time we turn fifteen." Thor stepped forward.

"It is an honor to meet you," Thor squeaked. He looked like he was trying to contain his excitement. He grabbed Leo's hand and shook it. "Especially you Leo Valdez, you heroic sacrifice was the most admirable. Our people yearn to die honorably in battle."

"You're Thor right?" said Percy. "The Norse god of thunder."

"Indeed, I am Thor Odinson of Asgard. It is an honor to meet you, Percy Jackson, the famed Hero of Olympus. Our two kinds have ceased interaction for many years, however news of your achievements still reach Asgard." Thor knelt in front of the four of us, his hammer on the floor. "My apologies for trespassing on Greek territory. I had no idea Olympus was moved to New York. I hope this will not cause a rift between us. If it is possible, I would like to speak to your uncle." He looked at us gravely.

The demigods looked at each other, bewildered. "Hey," Leo grinned, "it's cool. I didn't even know we had a territory." Thor returned Leo's grin uncertainly. "As for talking to Zeus, I don't think we can schedule that right now. We'll explain in a minute."

"Hold up," Tony held his hand up, "stop it. You guys are confusing us."

"You are not aware of demigods you recruited?" Thor looked shocked.

"What's a demigod?" asked Tony, looking even more puzzled.

Reyna sighed. "We were just about to explain."

Percy jumped in. "Ok, have you guys ever heard of the Greek gods?" Cue several nods. "Ok, they're real. All the stuff in Greek mythology exists." He waited for that to sink in. Tony scoffed.

"Are you claiming to be gods? Yeah right," He laughed. Pepper elbowed him up effectively.

"Tony, Thor just said we were demigods." Piper sighed through the IM. Thor jumped like he just noticed them.

"We're demigods, the children of the gods." Percy explained. "That's why we have the powers we have. We grow up with monsters trying to kill us, so we train to fight them in camps. Usually, only our weapons can kill them, but mortal weapons can wound them too I guess."

Clint nodded. "Ok, so are there any other mythologies we need to know about?"

"Just Romans," Percy said slowly. "Reyna, Hazel, and Frank follow the Roman version of the gods." Clint nodded.

"Just a question, why is Thor acting like he worships you guys or something?" Tony pointed to Thor, who was babbling away with Piper and Jason through the rainbow.

"Well, a few years ago, my grandfather Kronos tried to take over the world, or more accurately, the Western civilization. I know, my family is messed up. I try not to focus too much on family relations in the godly world, like how all the horses in the world are actually my half brothers.

Anyway, so he tried to take over New York and we stopped him. You know the big blackout a few years ago when everyone just fell asleep, yeah, that was it. "

"Percy saved the world," said Nico softly.

Percy scowled. "Luke was the real hero, all I did was hand him the knife that killed him."

"Ok, so you saved the world from you evil grandpa, what about the others?" Natasha looked skeptical. "And how is New York Greek territory?"

"After, Kronos was defeated, my great grandmother Gaea tried to take over the world using her kids, the giants. There was a quest of seven demigods to go to Greece and beat them. Hazel and Leo rescued me," Percy swallowed, "and Annabeth from Tartarus, which is like literally hell. Um, Frank led a charge against an army of monsters. Reyna and Nico delivered a statue that united the Greeks and Romans for war. Piper, Jason, and Leo defeated Gaea. Leo sacrificed himself to kill Gaea but he was revived. And he rescued an immortal girl off her prison island.

As for the territory thing, I have no idea about that. Well, maybe cuz NYC in the East, but that doesn't make sense because, um, never mind." Percy said nervously.

Luckily, Natasha moved on to a different subject. "What do you mean revived?"

"I drank a magic potion that let me come back alive," said Leo sarcastically, "It wasn't very pleasant, I'll tell you that."

"But why keep it such a secret?" Clint looked really confused. "So you fought two wars and won, that's impressive, but why hide it from the world?"

Percy shrugged. "If the whole world knew the gods existed and was in New York, they would go crazy. People might try to find Olympus or dive in the ocean for Atlantis. Evil scientist could lock us up and experiment on us." Reyna frowned. "What? Theoretically, that could happen."

"Theoretically the sun can explode and plunge the world into eternal darkness, but no one really dwells on possibility." Clary said.

"You know we have to tell Fury this right," Natasha said.

"Yeah," Nico sighed, "Just don't go babbling it into the world or something."

"You know, Rachael did that once," Percy smiled, recalling that day he and Annabeth sat with her in café, "she shouted it to a whole restaurant, but no one seemed to care."

Natasha walked away with her cell phone, probably calling Fury.

Tony raised a hand. "What's that?" he pointed at the rainbow.

"Iris Message," said Nico "lets us communicate from anywhere as long as we pay and there's a rainbow."

"Cool, how does it work? Does that light particles from the rainbow transmit the image? Does it work underwater too?" Tony chattered on and on about some theory.

"If I may ask, where is lady Annabeth?" Thor looked quizzically around. "And why are your auras so powerful?"

"I'll finish the story," said Nico, "after Gaea was defeated, there was a big celebration at Camp Half Blood. Then a huge group of monster stormed us. They wiped out everything, demigods, nymphs, satyrs. Annabeth and Calypso died in that battle. Percy and Pipers' parents were murdered during that time as well.

The gods summoned us after that. They gave their blessings, which is basically more power. Then they went silent. Olympus was closed, and us eight was left to fend for ourselves in the world. That was about five years ago."

"Wait, so they loaded you with kick ass powers, then left you on the streets? That doesn't seem right," said Clint.

"Indeed, the Greeks and Romans are more honorable than that," said Thor, his brow furrowing. He looked troubled.

"Yeah, well it happened. We tried to get in contact, but nothing. The Hunters went MIA. The Amazons disappeared, even though the website is still running. Nymphs, satyrs, minor gods disappeared. The Underworld closed itself off too, and I can't find Atlantis again. Only monsters still remained, lucky us, and they were getting smarter too." complained Percy drily.

"Smarter? You beasts are not known for their intelligence, with the exception of a few," Thor said.

"Well, they got smarter. Hell hounds appear in packs of at least three dozen. Laistrygonian giants gather in huge bases. Empousa band together. And sometimes, we come across big planned bases like the one last night. It's like they have war strategists."

"Interesting," Bruce looked really fascinated.

"Ok, what happed last night?" Jason asked. "That's what triggered the age thing right?"

"We attacked a big base. Kill the monsters. They were holding Hebe in a cage. And when we freed her, she went crazy, and then she got killed by an unidentified person. Her blessing vanished, so we back to our original ages," Nico said.

"They killed a goddess? But that's impossible? How?" Hazel looked shocked.

"No idea, she just vanished in a light, well, actually, it was more of exploding into a billion pieces kind of thing. I just wish I could ask Dad about it, but, well, you know." Nico looked really frustrated.

"Well, we just called to let you know me and Hazel are going to be with Jason and Frank on their mission. We're lying low for the moment. The press would have a field day if they got pictures of us." said Piper. Leo whistled.

"Alright, we'll call you if we have any new developments," said Reyna. Piper nodded, and then cut the connection.

"So, you added half god teens to your team and destroyed a war base. Anything else I should know Tony?" Pepper frowned. "Have you been eating? You look skinnier."

Tony sighed. "Are you my girlfriend or my mom?" Pepper crossed her arms and gave him a chastising look.

"So, we all had an eventful day, what do we do now?" Clary looked really bored.

"Get food, I'm not the only one hungry, right?" said Clint.

"Food is overrated," huffed Clary.

"Who are you?" asked Thor. He looked suspicious.

"I'm a new recruit too. I'm not a demigod though," said Clary.

"No, but you are not fully mortal either. Holy blood runs in your veins," said Thor.

"Holy blood?" repeated Tony.

"Really?" Clary looked intrigued, "Hydra told me my blood was different, but holy was the last thing I ever thought."

"You remind me of an ancient race I have never meant, just heard about. Your weapons look similar as well," Thor looked at the wand thing Clary had strapped to her arm.

"Yeah? You can tell me who I am?" Clary looked eager. Thor looked uncomfortable.

"I am not certain," he muttered. Clary looked crestfallen, and she wiped her face blank. She shrugged.

"Leo, come with me," Reyna stood up, "I'm going to reprogram the computers so you need to fix them." She lugged him out of the room.

Percy stood up. "Well, see you later." He headed for the elevator. "Call me if something happens."

He took the elevator to the garage. Mounting a motor bike, he sped onto the streets.

Hours later, he pulled up at Montauk. The familiar landscape greeted him, giving him a sense of security and promise.

Percy sat at the edge of the water, feeling the sea breeze whip around him.

"Hello brother."

Percy tensed. He turned around. "Triton, it's such an honor," he said sarcastically. The last time he met his half brother, the exchange wasn't exactly friendly. It was right before the big battle, and he had been outright cold to him. "What do you what?"

"I need your help."

**Unknown POV**

"Master, I have taken care of the goddess as you wished. As you predicted, the demigods freed her and witnessed her demise." A lone figure knelt before a black throne. The darkness shielded almost everything from sight, except a bright blue glow. It seemed to pulse in the darkness, radiating a pull of centricity and submission. "I have noted their abilities; however, there were only four of them there, and some mortals.

"No matter, the other four will be tested later. Are to mortals going to present a problem?"

"No, they seemed rather weak."

"Excellent, our plan is in motion. Ready the others, the search will have to continue quickly."

The figure shivered. "What about the prisoners?"

"If they do not join us soon, they will be executed. We will have only loyalty in our cause."

"And the girl?"

"She is almost ready. A few more days, and she will be completely under my command. Now go gather the troops."

The figure retreated backward, the darkness enveloping her. "As you wish Master."


	11. Chapter 11

**Percy POV**

The first time Percy met Triton, the god had two fish tails and green skin. Now, he sported jeans and a tee shirt. He looked like Percy's younger (and cooler) twin.

Unfortunately, Triton noticed him studying him. He smirked. "I look like one of your kind, don't you agree?" Percy scowled.

"Why do you need my help?" Like he was going to do anything anyway.

"Actually, I need one of the death brats and the fire user? I believe you have contact with them," Triton said.

"Yeah, they're my friends. If you need something, go ask them," Percy crossed his arms. "I don't have to do anything for you."

"Just hear me out," Triton sounded desperate, "Please. I rather not seek out the child of Hades." He shuddered.

Wow, this was unusual. Percy tried the process the situation slower in his mind, trying to ignore the fact that the god was insulting one of his friends. Unfortunately, Triton took his silence as a signal to go on.

"I need you to get me a Borean ice key."

Percy shook his head. "I'm sorry; you want me to make you a key? From ice?"

"No, a Borean ice key can only be formed by the children of Boreas. Since, Calais and Zethes are still reforming; you'll have to get the key from Khione," Triton explained.

"The ice goddess that hates Piper and Leo? The one that attacked them twice? That Khione?"

"Gods, you are dense. Yes, that Khione," Triton said, exasperated. "The gods imprisoned her on a mountain in Maine. Only the touch of death and fire can free her. You'll have to strike a deal of freedom for the key." Percy shrugged.

"Gee, sounds fun. But I think I'll pass," said Percy. "There's no way I'm asking Nico or Hazel and Leo to face off some psycho goddess. I don't have to do anything for you."

"You would ignore a request from the gods?"

"First of all, it's only one god. Second, I hate the gods anyway, screw them. Where were they when the monsters massacred all my friends?" Percy yelled.

"The gods cannot interfere with demigod lives," said Triton softly.

"Excuses," said Percy bitterly, "You gods are all the same."

"Won't you do it for me? I am your brother," said Triton.

"Half brother," corrected Percy, "And the last time I met you, you glared at me and was really mean." Ok, so that came out wrong. It made Percy sound like a petulant child.

"I'll owe you then. You help me, and I'll help you in the future." Triton said.

Percy grinned at that thought. Having a god owe him something for once sounded nice. On the other hand, it could be some kind of trap. Since when do gods give you an upper hand?

"And I can tell you why the gods avoided you for that last few years. Gods, I'm breaking so many laws today," He muttered. Percy widened his eyes.

"Deal, we'll get your stupid key," said Percy. They sealed the deal off on the Styx.

"When you get it, just toss it into the ocean. The waters will bring it to me." Triton paused. "And despite what you think of me, I do not wish for your demise every day."With that, he dissolved into sea mist. Percy swore inside his head. What the hell was that suppose to mean?

He jogged away from the shore line. Mounting his cycle, he called Hazel.

"Hey, listen, can you do something for me?"

**Leo POV**

"Nope, no way, not going to happen," Leo said. Percy had come back from the beach with a quest. One that was so not going to happen.

"I agree, Khione is a rather sly goddess. If she is enchained by your gods' proclamations, then we shall not interfere." intoned Thor.

It took ten minutes for Percy to give a rundown of what happened at Montauk over a dinner of pizza. Then it took an hour explaining it to the adults.

"I agree with Leo. By the way you describe Kylie, she sounds like she could start the next Ice Age. Keeping her in jail sounds good to me," said Tony.

"Her name is Khione," sighed Percy, "Come on Leo, this could finally be a chance for some answers. Hazel already agreed. She and the others are going to Maine after their mission."

"Nope, not going to happen Fish Head. Khione could send me to some magic island again. Or she could go all Elsa on me and I'll wake up ninety years from now like Cap!"

"Leo, don't be ridiculous," said Reyna, "You're starting to sound more like Stark."

"Hey, since when were we on last name basis?!"

"Besides," said Reyna, ignoring Tony, "Maybe he can give us advice about the whole Hebe thing. I cannot find anything relevant to us. Unless she was referring to Janus," she muttered.

Leo shook his head. "I'm never letting her out. She deserves to be caged up!"

"Come on Leo, I already made the deal," said Percy. "Please?"

"Leo, if Piper can agree with it, so can you," chided Reyna.

"But she's pure evil. She'll add me to her popsicle collection!" Leo pouted. "Ok, fine, I'll do it."

"Wait, can I go? I want to see Elsa!" said Tony.

"I guess it wouldn't matter, the more people the safer," said Reyna.

"But it'll attract monsters," said Nico, "and we might be needed here. Gods, why does everyone pick New York to attack. The city's had aliens, bombs, two wars, and a near nuke strike."

"Yup, it's like the Big Apple's everyone's target these days," mumbled Percy.

"How about only Tony and Leo go? Sounds good to me," said Clint.

"Yeah, and come back to find my awesome tower destroyed? No way! For all I know, you going throw a party here while I'm gone. That's what immature people do right?"

"Tony, you and the fire kid are the only immature people in the room," sighed Natasha.

"How dare you," mocked Tony, "I am perfectly mature."

"Both of you are going tomorrow," crowed Clint gleefully, "we'll call if you tower explodes." Tony scowled.

Well, seeing that that was done, Percy went for the fridge.

"Oh, by the way, a side project of ours kinda escaped from the lab," said Tony causally.

"So lock your doors and stay out of the vents. If you see any tiny mechanical spiders, please bring it back to us, undamaged," added Leo. They all groaned.

"Can I do checkups on all of you?" Bruce said suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Fury called me to do medical exams on all of you. For records I guess," said Bruce.

"That reminds me, I was checking around the SHIELD database," Leo faltered at Clint and Natasha's glare, "for research stuff. Did you know Fury's been building a file on us? It like lists our powers and lives. Some of that junk I didn't even know! Like how we're like number one assassins in the whole world. Can you believe it? Supersized McShizzle is even more famous!"

"As much fun as it is hearing your mercenary reputation, I rather go to the gym," said Steve.

"I want to hear the story! The twisted tale of how eight teens became number one on the world's wanted list," said Tony dramatically. Leo launched into story mode, though Percy could already hear him exaggerating a few facts.

This was going to be a long day.

_. . . Time Skip ahead . . . ._

Have you ever seen those movies where the main character is strapped to an operating table by the evil mad scientist? Well, Percy struggled against his restraints harder than every one of them.

Bruce sighed over by the monitor. "Relax Percy, you agreed to this remember?" Percy growled.

"I didn't think I'd be trapped like a lab animal," he complained, "My ADHD is on overdrive."

"Reyna and Nico didn't have a hard time," said Bruce. Percy shrugged.

"Wait till you get Leo, he'll be jumpier than me."

"I just need a few more blood samples," said Bruce calmly. He stuck another needle in. Percy cringed.

"Your kind is so fascinating. Your enhanced reflexes and abilities are phenomenal. Did you know only half your genes are shown on your blood scans? Either your godly DNA is not traceable on computers or your genetic structure is altered when you're born? Or the genes are too small to be seen by modern technology. You can prove that atomic theory –"

"You are not making this better Big Guy," gritted Percy, "I feel like I'm back in bio class."

Bruce peered at him curiously. "You went school?"

"I passed college," said Percy. "But that doesn't mean I understand what you're jabbering about." Bruce nodded.

"What did you specialize in?"

"Marine bio and oceanography," gasped Percy, "Are you done yet?!" He tapped his hands impatiently.

"Yeas, you can go now," said Bruce. The restraints snapped open with a hiss. Percy flipped off.

"I need to hit something," he said. Percy jogged down to the training floors. He could Steve punching bags as usual. Reyna and Natasha fought hand to hand while Clint fired arrows at moving targets. Clary sat on one of the mats, eyes closed . . . meditating? Nico sat in a room all by himself, shadowy tendrils battling Thor.

Percy ran into the pool room and dove in. He sat down at the bottom. The blue watery atmosphere made it easy to concentrate. Percy focused on the water. His head broke the surface. Percy started forming the water into shapes and slamming then into the side of the pool.

"Hey," Percy looked up. Clint stood at the edge of the pool. "Pizza's here." Percy nodded and willed the water to deposit him next to the door perfectly dry. Clint frowned. "Do you always where all you clothes when you go swimming?"

"Yeah, it really doesn't matter for me," said Percy. They got into the elevator.

"Hey can I ask you something," asked Clint.

"Uh sure," said Percy.

"You know how you guys told us you fought two wars and all your friends basically died?" Percy stiffened. "How do you deal with that? When you lose someone?"

"I hang out with Leo. Try staying sad or angry with him around," muttered Percy.

Clint rolled his eyes. "I totally get you. The little guy is like Tony Jr. But seriously, answer the question."

"Time and distractions makes things fly by. Assassinating and running for your life tends to train you to control your mind and thoughts. Besides, I know they're in a happy place," said Percy.

"You believe in heaven?"

"Nah, I meant Elysium. That's Greek paradise for dead heroes. I know my parents are there too. They're all free of fighting and will finally have peace. You know, I wanted to die with them years ago, but I couldn't leave my friends here."

"No wonder Thor treats you guys like royalty," muttered Clint. He twirled an arrow in his hand.

"Doesn't really help you does it," said Percy grimly, "Sorry, did you lose someone recently?"

Clint shook his head. "No, but I will probably in the future. Occupational hazard, you know?"

They rode in silence the rest of the way.

**Leo POV**

"I love flying this thing," exclaimed Leo. He tapped numerous buttons and pushed the throttle forward. The jet shot forward, the abruptly plummeted 200 feet. Leo cackled and flipped the plane into an upside down nose dive. "I should totally fly for the Blue Angels. This is pro work."

Tony swore under his breath and grabbed his seat tighter. "Try not to crash us." Leo could practically hear his heart racing 200 mph.

"Relax, I've flown a few times," said Leo, giggling. He made the jet do twirls and spins in the air. "We've got hours till Maine, so sit tight." Leo smirked.

Tony groaned. "I knew I should have agreed to the shadow – teleport thing!"

**_Hey readers, thx 4 all the awesome reviews! Seriously, I luv u guys! Anyway, I'm trying get the plot going. Give me ur thoughts._**

**_– _****_ShadowfireX13_**


	12. Chapter 12

**Percy POV**

Percy hated flying. Sure, Zeus hadn't struck him down before, but that didn't make things easier. He squirmed in his chair. Why couldn't they take a freaking boat? Percy loved boats. Anything was better than this.

SHIELD's dumb helicarrier hovered 2000 feet over the Pacific. At least he would survive if the plane exploded. Beside him, Nico looked queasy as well. Everyone else looked perfectly fine, aside from their impatient faces. Percy couldn't help but agree, he didn't want to spend another minute in this stuffy conference room.

Bruce was lucky. He was in a nice spacey lab with Thor examining alien junk Fury fished out space. Sounded dull, but better than a mission in who knows where (rumored Sahara, _shudder_)

Fury walked in with a pile of thin files. He frowned. "Where is Valdez and Stark? I thought I told him it's mandatory to come in for missions."

"Leo and Tony are doing something else," said Percy, "Besides I think we're enough."

Fury pursed his lips. "I don't care what you think. But I guess this will work." He tossed the files onto the table. "What do you know about bombs?"

"We can build and disassemble a few," said Reyna. Percy and Nico nodded.

"Excellent, that may come in handy." Fury pushed the files toward them. Percy left his on the table.

"Recently we have been having trouble in the Everglades. Numerous large areas of the forest are disappearing. We got calls of explosions, so we are suspecting bombs. SHEILD sent in a team of 12 and they all disappeared. We still have their GPS location, but it's bouncing all over the planet."

"Why would people kill trees?" said Percy. He couldn't help but feel a little angered by the situation. Grover would've run into the Everglades screaming bloody murder.

"We don't know. I want you to find the source of the bombs and destroy it."

"Sounds simple," said Percy, "What's in the files?" He didn't even bother to look into the files; no doubt they'll be illegible.

"The files contain information on the explosions and the areas of demolition." Yeah, that file was so not getting read.

"So how will we get there, cause Leo and Tony took the jet."

"SHEILD will drop you off," said Fury, "I trust you jumped off a plane before." Cue numerous groans. "In fact we are there now. Get ready to go." He walked out.

"I'll show you where the parachutes are," said Natasha.

"No, it's fine. We'll just shadow travel in mid air." said Nico smugly.

"Why do the kids get all the cool powers?" complained Clint. "I hate parachuting."

At the launch bay, the hatch opened. Air instantly whipped in. "YOLO," Percy yelled. He cannonballed off into the air. Percy instantly started plummeting. He looked up, the winds making him squint. The others were in falling as well, in skydive position.

Percy closed his eyes. Instantly, he felt a tugging sensation, which faded after ten seconds. He opened his eyes. Trees and green surrounded him. The grounded was hard packed soil. Percy instantly reached out with his senses. Good, a river was ten feet to the left.

"Hey," Percy tapped the ear piece in his ear. "Where's everyone?"

"River," Clary's voice buzzed over laced with static.

Percy stepped into another shadow. He reappeared at the bank of the river. That was weird, shadow travel seemed easier. Percy pushed aside the though and looked around.

The others were in the water. It was pretty shallow, but they were all wet. Looks like they landed flat. He waved a hand wrapping the water around each of them.

Cue surprised shrieks and yells. Percy grinned. He placed then on the bank and dried them.

"Little warning next time Aquaman," coughed Clint.

Percy shrugged. "Just thought you need a wakeup call." Nico popped up next to Natasha causing Clint to yelp.

"Everyone here?" asked Steve. Percy looked around, yep, all present.

"There should be a dead spot through the trees," said Natasha. She was looking at a GPS thing.

They pushed through the trees and branches. "Whoa," Percy breathed. Before them, a massive expanse of multicolored sand (mostly green) spread out in a ragged circle, like a dried up lake. Percy could see trees on the other side.

"Nothing here, let's move," said Clint.

"Wait," said Reyna. She scooped up a handful of sand. "Check this out."

Percy walked over. "Check what? It's sand and shell pieces." Reyna dumped the sand into this hand.

"No, look closer; there's dirt and tiny plant matter, and blood. The shells look like cartilage and broken bones. To put this in a simpler explanation, this section of the forest seems like it was put through a micro blender." said Reyna.

"Cool," said Clint. "But how does it help us?"

Beep. Beep. Beep. Percy twitched. He walked to left, following the sound. The sound was coming from a tree. Percy pressed his ear against the trunk. Yep, the noise was coming from inside. Percy put on his sunglasses and switched them to X-ray mode. He peered at the tree.

There was a tiny device inside. Counting down. 15, 14, 13, 12, 11. Percy scrambled back. He sprinted back. "Get down!" He yelled, diving forward. Everyone dropped down, except Clary. "Get down, bomb," huffed Percy.

"Which way?' she asked. Percy shrugged. Then, something exploded. Clary immediately thrusted out her hands. A white force field emitted around everyone. Percy watched as everything outside the barrier shredded and turned to dust.

"What the hell?" Clint yelped. They all stood up, watching the destruction around them.

Then everything went silent. Clary's barrier vanished. They now stood in another circle of colorful sand. Reyna crouched down. "Same shredded stuff."

"So you found the bomb," said Natasha.

"Yeah, but I could disarm it because it was in a tree. Literally, it was inside the trunk," said Percy.

"Was it tiny?" asked Clary. Percy nodded.

"You know what it is?" asked Natasha.

Clary nodded. "It's a Hydra Model – D Shredder Bomb, HM – DSB for short. I learned about it in Advanced Artillery. It was a new Hydra model, highly experimental. It uses electrical charges to shred matter into tiny pieces. By charging the protons at a specific frequency, it will cause them to rupture. Then the electrons –"

"Save the lesson, how do we beat it?" Percy said.

"It can be disrupted by an EMP wave." said Clary, "that was one of the design flaws. It totally fries it."

"Well, mission completed then," said Percy, "we get back to the airplane and tell Eyepatch to EMP to whole forest. And I can catch the newest episodes on TV!"

"No, we have to eliminate the source," said Natasha.

"If we can EMP the bombs, they'll self destruct. Hydra probably has a base close by if this is their testing zone." said Clary.

"I can rewire our phones to be EMP bombs," said Reyna. "And I can locate the Base via satellite. Just give me a minute to configure an algorithm."

Nico scowled. "But Leo just upgraded my phone! I had to give up two of my best knives!" Reyna tossed him a dagger wordlessly. Nico pried his phone open, grumbling.

"You know, I kinda want Tony and Leo here right now. They usually do all the weapon stuff," said Clint.

Percy dug out his pocketknife. Making an EMP bomb out of a phone was pretty basic. As long as you wire it correctly, otherwise, it would detonate in your hand. Percy slit the wires and started fusing them in different places with a summoned flame.

"Well, don't just stand there," Percy said, "if we have to give our phones up, so do you."

"I don't know how to make a bomb." (Steve)

"Didn't bring a phone. You're not supposed to, they're traceable." (Clint and Natasha)

Percy rolled his eyes. He turned on his phone and double tapped the timer app. "Who first?"

Nico tossed his down. "We have thirty seconds."

"This way," Reyna took off the opposite direction. Percy squeezed his phone and followed. Trees became a green and brown blur as they raced through.

Explosions rocked the ground behind them. "Faster," yelled Reyna. An invisible wave of shredding rushed toward them. Shadows blocked them off. Percy waved his hand. A wall of fire halted the destruction.

"There must be more bombs the closer we get," yelled Clary. "It's Test Zone Model B." Clary tossed her phone into the smoke.

"Be quiet!" Steve yelled back.

"Stop yelling!"

"Everyone shut up," said Reyna. Everyone did, glaring at each other. Percy turned his attention to the base. It was pretty small. Guards stood at ten foot intervals around a chain linked fence. The building looked like an abandoned army base. Dudes in lab coats walked around with computers and other high tech equipment.

"So, all we have to do is destroy the building, and then we can leave?" said Percy.

"Yes, SHIELD provided us with dynamite. Unless you kids can wire you phones into grenades," said Clint sarcastically.

"Are you going to take the people prisoner?"

"No, objective is to eliminate all," said Clint. "But we don't expect you to actually kill someone."

Percy stomped the ground. A wave of energy pulsed out from his hands. The ground started to shake. Clary put up another force field.

Then Percy unleashed maximum power. The ground shuddered like a meteor impact. The earthquake probably overloaded every scale on the planet. The ground started to sink. Trees toppled over like bowling pins. The building crumbled down. Dust filled the sky.

"Ok, that's enough," said Reyna quietly. Percy shut it off.

"What was that?" sputtered Clint.

"What did it look like? It was a earthquake." Percy said.

"That was bigger than necessary," said Reyna. They started walking over to the ruins.

Percy shrugged. "I didn't mean for it to get that big. Just felt a bigger power surge than usual."

"Everyone is dead. Unless there are people in the trees," Reyna reported.

"You killed them all," said Clint.

"We were assassins," said Percy, "killing people was our job. Just because we're young, it doesn't mean we're weak." He turned away, his stomach suddenly queasy. "Let's get out of here."

**Leo POV**

So we found the cage. After we landed, it was pretty easy; the thing was shimmering brightly in the sun. Khione was trapped in a cage of ice (kinda ironic).

Leo and Tony hiked up to the cage where the others were waiting. Well, Tony flew up in his suit.

"Finally," said Frank, "We've been waiting for days."

"Hours," corrected Leo, "And a hello to you too."

"Sorry," Frank sighed, "you try spending a night out here. She was yelling all night. I never thought she was that crazy."

Leo swaggered over to the cage. "What's up princess?"

She snarled. "Valdez," she said venomously. Wow, she looked way different. Like Hebe she looked like an old hippie. Was that a new look for immortals? Eh, at least they looked somewhat their old age.

"Miss me? I know you tried to kill me twice, but you still can get with a piece of this," Leo struck a pose. She growled. "Not a team Leo fan huh, shame. You should meet that Narcissus guy, he hated me too. Talk about no taste. So, what have you been up to lately, freeze anymore people? Or have you been hanging out on the streets?"

Ok, so maybe he was rubbing it in a bit, but hey, she was super mean to him before (and now), she totally deserved it.

Tony was examining the cage. "How is this possible? This ice should have melted a long time ago. There's dust on these bars!" He started scanning the entire thing.

"A mortal? Since when do demigods associate with mortals?" she mused, "Such fragile and incompetent creations."

"I have you know, I am a multi billionaire and battled aliens," said Tony. "And I'm not the one stuck in the cage Elsa."

She smiled coldly. "My father can unleash an infinite blizzard on your home, mortal."

"Is she threatening me?" Tony looked around. "Why are all your gods psychotic? The Haley one was a wacko hippie and this one is a killer happy? Is that like a normal trait?"

"No, I hear Poseidon is quite nice. Apollo's awesome too," said Leo. "And Hebe's usually nicer."

"Leo, get back on track," said Jason.

"But didn't you tell her the deal?" Leo asked.

"Leo, we don't know the deal. We came with Hazel because Percy asked her to come here." Piper said. "And Khione won't talk to us. She yells at us. Talking to you is the first words she uttered to us, along with 'die'."

"Well, have a seat. Uncle Leo has the news of current development," said Leo grinning.


	13. Chapter 13

**Leo POV**

So after Leo whispered the plan to his friends, he squatted down to Khione's eye level. She would look a lot cooler if she wasn't huddled up in the corner of her cell. Gods use to be so much awesomer.

"Hey Snowgirl, wanna bust outta the cage?" Leo nodded. "Of course you do, well, me and Hazel are going to get you out. And all you have to do is give us one little Borean ice key. You in?" Leo grinned. Awesome sales pitch, check.

"I don't need your help Leo Valdez," hissed Khione. She looked like she wanted strangle him. Her hands kept waving in his direction like she wanted to popsicle him. That wasn't good.

"Look, it's such a good deal. You get to go free and terrorize people or whatever you do. Plus this cage is suppressing you powers, don't you want them back?" Leo smirked.

"Fool, I cannot create your key if I'm inside this cage," Khione smiled evilly.

"Then we'll let you out, what are you not getting from this?"

"Uh Leo," Jason grabbed his arm, " she means if you let her out, you have no guarantee that she gives you the key. Are you sure Percy absolutely agreed with this? Doesn't sound like him at all."

"Hey, I've got this superman," Leo put his hands together. "I totally got this. She'll just swear on the Styx. Problemo solved."

"Wow, you're negotiations techniques are _so_ solid," muttered Tony. Leo ignored him.

"If we let you out, you have to swear on the Styx to make us a key, oh, and to not attack us," said Leo.

"Why do you seek the prized key of the Northern Winds?" asked Khione.

"Because Percy's brother wanted it," said Leo truthfully. "Yeah after five years of the silent treatment, they contact us for a stupid key. We're _soooo_ feeling the love. What's so nice about the stupid key anyway? I can make keys. Percy can make ice into a key. Everyone can carve ice."

"The key of ice is indestructible object that the winds of the north can only make once. It cannot be destroyed easily, and freezes anything it touches. However, the prize it unlocks is the most unique of all." Khione narrowed her eyes. "Triton put you up to this didn't he?"

"Maybe," Leo answered, "so we got a deal?"

Khione smiled coldly. Hey, she smiled a lot more; Leo didn't know if it was a good or bad thing. "I swear of the river Styx that I will give you the Borean ice key and not attack you."

Leo nodded. "That's more like it. So, how do we get you out?"

"The touch of fire and death will set me free," said Khione. Leo shrugged. He lit up his hand and tugged at a bar.

"Hazel, help?" Hazel maintained her distance, but she threw a ruby at the cage. Almost immediately, the ice dissolved. Light exploded outward, throwing Leo back a good twenty feet.

Khione stepped out in her full glory. She looked exactly the same from when Leo first saw her: white dress and skin with hair as dark as night, pretty outside, psycho inside. She raised her arms. Winds roared and howled. Her eyes were brown, but they could have given Zeus chills.

Tony whistled from inside his suit. "She's hot."

Khione growled. "Do NOT insult me mortal!" The winds whipped up faster, sensing her rage. Ice began creeping up Tony's suit.

"Remind me not to compliment her again," muttered Tony, while trying to break the ice.

"Stop it, we have a deal!" yelled Piper. Khione narrowed her eyes. She opened her hand. A glistening clear key sat on her palm, made from ice that looked like diamonds. Jason levitated it from her hand, careful not to touch it.

Leo picked himself up. "So we'll be on our merry little way now. This was so nice, hope to so it again."

"Not so fast son of Hephaestus," She raised her hands. The clouds thickened. A blizzard was starting. She flew off the ground.

"You can't attack us," yelled Hazel, her voice wasn't exactly convincing. Khione ignored her, entirely focused on Leo.

"Your presence is an insult to me. For this, you shall pay. I may not be able to harm you, but my brethren can," she stirred up the storm even more, "My storm will summon them in hordes!"

"Hey, why does everyone hate Leo these days? Piper was the one who defeated you," as soon as the words left his mouth, Leo regretted it.

"Leo!" Leo wasn't sure if that was for his sad dealings or making Piper the center of Khione's attention.

"The child of Aphrodite will perish as well, all of you will pay," Khione screeched. Her eyes gleamed with craziness.

"She's gone wacko, let's get outta here guys," said Leo.

"Leo, take Stark back to the tower. We still have to debrief with Fury. We'll throw the key in water on the way," yelled Jason. They vanished in the shadows.

"Cowards," howled Khione, "stay and fight. FREEZE!" Yep, she has officially gone loopy. Leo grabbed Tony and let the shadows encase him.

**Reyna POV**

Reyna sat on the roof of the tower, her cloak billowing in the breeze. It was four am. Her friends were probably awake as well, well, the life of danger keeping them on alert. Leo and Tony were still in Maine, probably dealing with the snow goddess.

Reyna could see the entire skyline of New York City. Stark, despite being infuriating, was a really good architect. Reyna forced herself to relax and drift off. Meditating was a way she could relax and think. Almost all her friends practiced it.

The wind whistled around her. Reyna extended her senses outward.

"Hey," A voice interrupted her. She tensed, instincts urging her to reach for her spear. She turned around. "You're up early," said Steve.

"I'm not the only one," she said. She brushed past him toward the door.

"Do you act professional all the time?"

Reyna paused. "What?"

"You and your friends keep many secrets. The whole point of being in a team is not doing that. All of you push us aside if we try to get closer. It's like having two smaller teams that operate separately. And you, you have the most walls built around you."

"We keep secrets for a reason, it protects you and us. We keep together because we don't trust you, not enough. You should be use to that; you do have a spy and ex assassin on your team."

"You can trust us," argued Steve.

"Not if you can't trust us. Your director is wary of us. We were mercenaries after all. And your team has little faith in Clary." Reyna gave him a steely glare. "We not stupid. We know JARIVS bugs our rooms and cameras track us.

Fury is trying to use an interrogation technique, whether you know it or not. You realize he hasn't questioned us yet. He knows we'll be trained in counterintelligence. He wants gain our trust, to get us to lower our guard. Clary told me she already told Fury all the stuff she remembered. His main technique is intimidation and fear, which will not work with us.

He first ordered Percy to be captured, which failed. I bet he kept files on all us, try to find our weaknesses and strengths. It would have been a recruit or eliminate mission. You got Percy the third time. Then we made to deal to stay for the metal. Worked for Fury, he could now keep us here to determine what we could do, and to find info to hold against us. All I can't figure out is if you were part of this or not. "

He stared at her speechless. Reyna crossed her arms. "I've been doing this for a long time. Don't question my methods, we may allies, but our friendship is earned. Well, except Leo, he tends to . . ." Reyna trailed off.

"You're wrong," said Steve, "Fury wouldn't . . ." He didn't sound very convincing.

Reyna raised her hand. "You never heard this," she said. Manipulating the mist was Hazel's specialty, but all of them could perform small tricks. Changing memories was small stuff. Quietly, she slipped downstairs, leaving a disoriented Steve on the roof.

**Percy POV**

The tower was a lot quieter without Leo and Tony. Sure, he was used to loneliness after five years of it, but he had spent the last few weeks surrounded by the weirdest arrangement of people on earth.

Clint hung around in the vents. Nico mainly stuck inside his floor like Natasha, and Reyna regularly monitored the computers. Steve punched away while Bruce did whatever he did in the labs. And Thor munched away on Pop tarts, seriously, that guy had a problem. How does someone scarf down ten pounds of tarts and still eat lunch?

Percy shook all thoughts out of his head as he stepped into the pool in the training room. He spent a lot of time here now, since they weren't near the ocean. He drifted to the bottom of the pool. Settling down, he relaxed.

Suddenly, the water started vibrating. Percy widened his eyes. He tried to calm the water, but it seemed to push against his will. He leaped out of the water.

The water started boiling. Waves of it overflowed onto the floor. The water formed into words. Percy's mind swam as he tried to decipher the Ancient Greek letters into English.

_Tomorrow at the waters where we last met_

Percy scowled. He lifted all the water and made it crash down on the message. The pool calmed and the waters went still.

Well, at least he had plans tomorrow.

**Special POV**

Thousands of miles away, a figure crawled up a narrow tunnel. He stood in the sun, his face turning whiter in the sun. Blue eyes surveyed the area.

Tourists steered around the boy in tattered and dirty clothes. He had an air of danger and death raging off him. He turned around, helping a dark haired girl up. They supported each other, shielding their eyes from the bright sunlight.

Scratches marred their arms. Dirt and ashes streaked their faces. The boy had twin swords, old, but still sharp. The girl, armed with a makeshift dagger, staggered with every step.

Growls and screeches came from the tunnel. The boy turned around. He drew his sword and swung, a golden streak flashed. The tunnel collapsed, sealed under tones of dirt and rock. People walked by the two obliviously.

"Into the trees," said the boy. They broke for the trees, ducking through the foliage. They doubled back, turned randomly, splashing though mud and rivers. They finally came to a halt on higher ground. The girl collapsed on a rotting tree stump, clasping her calf.

Blood seeped out from under her hand. A celestial bronze knife was stabbed in her calf. Smoke steamed from the wound. They couldn't take it out, as it was pressuring the wound, but leaving it in would surely turn fatal.

"We have to find them," she coughed.

The boy nodded grimly. "As fast as possible."

**Hey guys, I just saw Ant- Man yesterday. Pretty good movie, can't wait to see how they incorporate him in civil war. Anyway, double update this week, I'm trying to get the plot moving and I wanna squeeze in as much chpts as I can b4 school. And please more reviews. Thx**

** – ****ShadowFireX13**


	14. Chapter 14

**Percy POV**

Percy sat in the kitchen, scrolling down on his phone. Nothing on the news, a relief. Everyone was bored, he could tell. They all had dull expressions and were pushing their lunch around their plates.

"You guys missed me?" Percy's head snapped up. Leo walked in grinning. "Aw, lunch, you shouldn't have." He snatched a French fry off Reyna's plate. "No hitting," he ducked under her punch, "Do you want your presents or not?"

"Where's Tony?" asked Steve.

"He's checking on something," said Leo. "By the way, mission complete. It was fun. Khione's paranoid like usual. " He grinned and bowed. "You guys totally missed me."

Nico groaned. "And now that you're here, you're annoying again."

"Hey, no sarcasm from the emo. That's Percy's line," Leo grinned. Nico scowled. "You guys should have been there. Khione was grade – A crazy. There should totally be mental institutions for goddesses. Or how 'bout a jail?"

"Leo, what've you got," interrupted Reyna.

Leo pulled several boxes out of his tool belt. "Latest model, we're supposed to test it." Percy reached over and flipped open the top. There, packed in hard Styrofoam, laid a disassembled rifle. Percy swiftly put it together; he carefully lifted it up and inspected it, studying the markings.

"From Langley right?" Percy said. Natasha and Clint narrowed their eyes.

"Yeah, they got a place at Hampshire. Picked it up on the way back," said Leo.

"Wait, you guys use guns?" Steve looked confused and alarmed.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly legal," said Leo. "We sometimes use guns."

"You never told Fury you were affiliated with others," said Natasha.

Leo shrugged. "He never asked." She frowned.

"What does it do?" Nico took an experimental aim at the wall.

"Smart bullet. Suppose to snap – lock on target within 10 mile range."

Tony decided to walk in at that moment. "Whoa, what's with the guns?" He glanced at the boxes. "That's what you made me stop for?"

"Its legal," protested Leo.

"Oh, carry on then," Tony grabbed something out of the fridge.

"Really Tony?" Bruce said.

"Hey, they're assassins. Guns are the least surprising thing about them," said Tony. "How else do they go around sniping people?" He looked around. "Where's Pepper, and Thor?"

"She left a few hours after you. Something about a conference in Dover," said Bruce. "And Thor's in New Mexico again."

"And for the record, we don't go around sniping people," said Leo, "Guns are for target practice, most of the time." Tony ignored them and starting telling Bruce about Khione and how Greek gods tends to be class – A crazies.

Percy tossed Leo his rifle. "Have to be somewhere," he said, checking out his watch. He stepped into a shadow.

Stepping onto the beach in Montauk, Percy waited by the water.

"So you came?" Triton looked exactly the same from when he interrupted Percy a few days ago. "You did it faster than I anticipated."

"What do you want?" Percy said.

"I'll fulfill my part of our agreement," said Triton, like it was obvious. Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Now?"

"Yes," answered Triton.

"Wait, can you tell my friends as well? Like back at the tower?"

Triton shrugged. "It doesn't really concern me."

Percy dissolved into mist, knowing Triton could follow him. He solidified in the living room. Triton floated next to him.

"JARVIS, tell everyone one to meet me here. Tell Tony and Leo it's a life and death situation. And note the god next to me is not an intruder."

"Will do sir," answered JARVIS.

Percy turned to Triton. "Can you go invisible?" Without an answer, Triton turned transparent.

Slowly, the others trickled in. Tony and Leo burst in, "What's the emergency?!" Leo's hammer was flaming. Everyone looked confused.

"Sorry, Leo, I had to make sure you and Tony would come." Percy said apologetically. Triton appeared, getting some yelps of surprised. Clint shot an arrow at him, which he casually deflected. "Guys, this is my half brother, Triton. He's a god." said Percy stiffly.

"Wow, you guys could be twins, except he looks cooler," commented Tony. Percy growled. Triton walked over to his friends, like he was studying a lab specimen.

"Greek, Romans, and mortals; with traces of a Norse." mused Triton. "Such an interesting group." He stopped by Clary, warily. "You did not tell me Nephilim were involved. I don't mix with them."

"Wait what?" Clary glared at him. "What did you call me?"

Triton ignored her. She glared at the floor, muttered something about how gods were so useless.

"You're Triton huh, aren't you suppose to have two fish tails." mused Tony. "So you talk pretty modern, unlike Thor. I think I'd like Greek gods, if they weren't crazy or trying to kill people,"

"Tony, shut up," sighed Clint.

"I suggest you take his advice before I end you," Triton agreed.

Tony threw his hands up. "I rest my case."

"Start talking," interrupted Reyna. Leo pulled out his phone to start recording for Jason and the others.

"Five years ago, all the Greeks and Romans died in a battle. All except the eight of you," said Triton carefully. "After this chain of events, Zeus made a decision. Granted, he made decisions before, and you all know how most of them turned out, but this one was rather . . . rash.

Zeus believes Greek and Roman gods are losing their influence in the world. When the demigods died, we became less powerful. Zeus ordered a mass retreat. Every major and minor god was supposed to withdraw from all their palaces and homes to Olympus. Zeus was, ah, moving the Greek world. It's similar to the Norse gods.

The Norse kind moved for the same reasons, they were fading. When they withdraw contact from Earth, they can live, but as a result, lose some of their powers.

Zeus was ready to take the risk. He ordered Hermes to spread the news. Many gods and goddess weren't happy with the decision. Some fled and hid or stalled. Hermes had to search out every single immortal. It took time. Personally, I didn't like that order either. Father was not pleased as well, you know we just finished the east wing."

"Wait, so you guys were just gonna leave, just like that," said Nico suspiciously. "Sounds like there's a hidden motive or something. And why did the Olympians bless us?"

"Zeus was smart you see. He convinced the gods that it would protect you. If the gods withdrawed, no monster would ever walk the earth again. They would stay in Tartarus, or if they escaped, they would come to our realm where they would be slayed. It would be highly unlikely that you would come across a monster ever again.

Zeus thought it was a great gift. The gods blessed you to give you protection, against other mortals. They, despite what you might think, care about their surviving child. And Zeus will rule forever without anymore demigods to bother him." Triton looked pointly at Percy.

"Now that make sense," Nico said.

"Yeah, ok so Jupiter made a plan. Why did the Hunt and Amazons disappear?" Reyna asked. She gripped her sword.

"Let me explain something before I answer that," said Triton. "Two years later, Hades closed itself off. No spirits got out. Hermes could get in. Hades and Thanatos cut off contact. Zeus thought his brother was rebelling. He ordered an attack, which was immediately vetoed.

Sometime after that, Olympus cut itself off. All entrances closed. All the major gods and most minor gods were up there. The rest of us were left out. I have you know, I'm running the sea now," Triton said proudly. He looked disappointed by their unimpressed reactions.

"There are rumors that the gods were poisoned. And Apollo cannot heal them. He was tasked with slaying the Python. He cannot step upon Olympian ground until he finishes his task." Triton finished grimly, "That's all I know. I have not information on the Artemis's followers or the daughters of Ares." Reyna scowled at the last bit.

"Now if you excuse me, I have duties to attend to," Triton vanished into sea mist.

"I understood that,' said Tony triumphantly.

"I didn't," said Steve, "I don't know much about Greek mythology."

"I can teach you," Leo offered. He grinned. "Professor Leo's in the house. Welcome to the six hour crash course on Greek mythology, guaranteed to make anyone an expert in Mythology. The last part does not apply to Percy."

He pushed all the adults except Tony into the elevator. "Welcome back to school."

"I'm regretting this already," muttered Clint. The elevator doors slammed shut.

"I need to make sense of this," said Reyna, walking off. She was already typing on a laptop.

"So, you want to play Mythomagic," suggested Nico. Percy nodded.

"What's that?' asked Tony.

"It's a card game," Leo pulled his deck out of his tool belt, "It helps keeping you mind off things."

Tony shrugged. "Sure, let's do it."

**Hey guys, double update this week, I'm trying to get the plot moving and I wanna squeeze in as much chpts as I can b4 school. And please more reviews. Thx**

** – ****ShadowFireX13**


	15. Chapter 15

**Percy POV**

Percy slumped on the couch as he flipped through the channels on TV. Reyna hovered over laptops, comparing notes. Nico slept in a dark corner on the floor. Clary sat in a sunny corner, sketching rapidly, it seemed like that was all she did these days.

"I'm so bored," he mumbled, "Something interesting happen."

The elevator doors opened. Steve stepped through in jogging clothes. He stared at them in bewilderment. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, that's the problem," mumbled Percy. Steve frowned.

"Where are the others?"

"Tony, Bruce and Leo are holed up in the workshop/lab. Widow's in the training with Thor. Clint is loose in the vents again. Jason and the others are somewhere in Morocco, lucky them."

Steve nodded slowly. "I'll just be going now . . ." Leo burst into the room.

"Check out what I built!" He yelled.

Nico's eyes flew open from the sudden noise. "Leo, we do that every day," he said groggily.

"But this is the most awesomest thing yet," said Leo. He was bouncing up and down, and waving a flaming hammer.

"Leo, did you eat something?" asked Reyna slowly.

Leo gave a manically wide grin. "Yep, SKITTLES! SUPER RAINBOW AWESOMENESS! Tony gave me three full boxes!" Everyone groaned. Leo didn't seem to pick up their moodiness. He did three cartwheels and a back flip. "Come on kiddies, no time to waste." Leo ran out of the room and back in. Now he was assembling something in his hand at lightning speed.

They grudgingly followed hyperactive Leo to the 54 floor.

The doors opened to a weary Bruce and smug Tony.

"Check it out," Leo bounced into the room. Reyna glared at Tony, who whistled innocently.

Percy glanced around. They were on a viewing platform, a thick glass wall looked down on a closed off room.

"I call it Leo's Super Amazing Virtual Box," gushed Leo, "Don't you just dig it?!" Leo pumped his fists in the air.

"Stark, what did you do to the kid?" sighed Steve.

"Why do you always assume it was me?" Tony was wearing an overly innocent face. "It's not my fault the kid found a stash of candy I hid in the lab."

"Tony, the candy was in a box labeled Leo under the desk," mumbled Bruce.

"Details details," said Tony carelessly. "The kid just needed a little motivation."

"Who wants to try it?" Leo looked like he was gonna bounce of the walls.

"I'll try," Clary said. She walked down a flight of stairs and entered the room.

Leo grinned. He dashed over to the control panel and tapped on the microphone.

"Welcome to THE BOX! Please note that everything in the box can hurt you and Leo is not responsible for any damages." Leo pressed a few buttons and pulled a lever.

Percy glanced down. Inside the box, Clary was now on a rushing train in some snow country. It looked real. Percy could see the rushing winds and blowing snow.

Masked figures climbed onto the train. They drew weapons and ran forward. Clary drew her sword and engaged them in combat. She slashed through the first figure, which vaporized.

She looked momentarily surprised, but kept her stance. Percy watched as she fought off the figures using various techniques.

"Leo what is the point of this?" Reyna asked.

"Training for different situations," said Leo happily, "It's cool huh." Percy watched as the scene changed into the ocean. Clary treaded water (how was that possible). Percy watched as she started disarming a torpedo with a starfish.

"Tony, I think the kid may be smarter that you," said Steve slowly. Tony looked insulted.

"I have you know, I helped with this too," he said arrogantly.

"Yes, repositioning the lights was very helpful," said Bruce mildly. Steve smirked.

Tony growled. "Whose side are you on?" Percy smiled as Tony started arguing with Steve, who needs TV when you live with the most eccentric people in the world?

**Reyna POV**

Reyna climbed up the stairs to the roof, small box in hand.

"Hi," Steve said, noticing her. He was up there drawing again.

Reyna held out the package. "For you."

He took it slowly, with a bewildered expression. "Thank you?" He looked at it. "Why are you giving me this?"

"It's an apology present," said Reyna.

"You didn't do anything wrong," said Steve slowly.

"Just take it," said Reyna, frowning, "It'll make me feel better." Steve looked even more puzzled.

"Sorry, you just didn't strike me as the apology type," said Steve. He looked like he was trying really hard to figure out what she did wrong.

Reyna frowned. "Yeah, but . . . ugh. You and Jason both seem to have this horrific ability to make people guilty." Steve looked even more confused.

Reyna continued. "You both have the classic all American look, you know, the one that makes you seem more trustworthy to people. Well, Jason kind of lost some of that when Hermes got him . . . but that's not the point. Anyway, you both have this way of making people guilty and it's hard to be angry with . . . you know what, never mind." Reyna frowned. "This will make us even."

Steve nodded slowly. "Wait, what is this?"

"It's a cupcake," said Reyna, "You eat it." She paused at his expression, and mentally cursed her luck. "You've never seen a cupcake before have you?"

"I've seen it," he said sheepishly, "At least I've seen something like it."

"You and Jason are just the same," Reyna muttered under her breathe. She left to find Clary.

(This is a line break, just ignore it. Pretend it is a procession of days passing . . .)

**Percy POV**

Percy sat with everyone in a circle, only Bruce was sitting in a chair with a clipboard. "So, what's the very important news," he asked. Everyone nodded in agreement, so he assumed Bruce had told everyone to meet him.

"Director Fury has asked me to evaluate your psychology." said Bruce. Everyone but Steve groaned and started yelling.

"Steve, it means Fury's is making us go to therapy," explained Natasha. Steve still looked clueless.

"Fury is making us tell someone all our problems to make sure we aren't psycho," said Leo. Steve's face cleared. It transitioned through several expressions before setting on frowning.

"I'm not doing this," Tony said, "My mind is none of Fury's business." Percy nodded in agreement; he could see his friends doing it as well.

"Sorry, it's mandatory. And since I will be playing the role of the shrink, I've decided group therapy would be the best way of opening people up," said Bruce, smiling. He was really enjoying this.

"Wait, don't you have problems too? That's not fair Fury's not making you do therapy," whined Tony childishly.

Bruce shrugged. "Too bad for you I guess. And I have a lie detector here to make all of you are telling the truth."

"This is ridiculous, we're perfectly fine. We're not crazy," insisted Percy.

"And why isn't Thor here?" Tony whined. "He should be here to suffer with us."

Bruce shrugged. "Fury decided Thor was cleared because he seemed the most level head out of all of you. And Jane is doing an evaluation too while he is visiting her."

Tony continued to mutter curses about Fury. "Fury thought it would bring the team closer," added Bruce.

He turned to his clip board. "Ok, we'll start with simple questions, and then we'll dig a little deeper every time. You can pass a question if it's too personal, but please make it reasonable. Now, does anyone have anything to say before we begin?"

"I have several things I want to say to Fury," grumbled Tony. Steve nodded.

Percy raised his hand. "Yes Percy?" Bruce said, relieved to take the attention away from Tony.

"I declare this is stupid," said Percy seriously. Leo and Nico nodded in agreement.

"Does Fury realize this could harm my cover?" Natasha inquired.

"Probably," He answered. She frowned.

"Ok, first we'll start with colors, what is you favorite one?" asked Bruce.

Everyone glanced at each other. "Blue," said Percy.

"Gee, such a surprise," said Nico sarcastically. He sighed. "Black."

"Black," said Natasha.

"I don't care," said Tony sullenly. The lie detector beeped. Tony frowned. "I'll go with red."

"Ohhh, I like bronze," said Leo, grinning.

"Red, white and blue," answered Steve truthfully.

"I think I like black," said Clary. Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. All she wore was black. Even Nico had at least a sliver of a different color his clothes.

"Black," said Clint.

Everyone looked at Reyna expectantly. "Pass," she said bluntly.

"Denied," said Bruce firmly.

"Fine, I'll go with purple."

"Next, who do you trust the most on this team," asked Bruce.

"Reyna," said Nico and Percy. Clary nodded.

"Tony," said Leo.

"Clint,' said Natasha.

"Nat," answered Clint.

"Percy," said Reyna, after a little hesitation.

"Tony," said Steve. He looked like he was regretting his answer.

"Really, I am so touched Capiscle," said Tony, "and here I thought you hated me. I knew no one could hate me. I am so awesome."

"I want to change my answer to Thor," said Steve. Tony pouted.

"That was mean. Oh, and my answer would be Bruce."

"Ok, next, give the name of someone who affected you greatly," said Bruce gently.

"Annabeth," said Percy softly.

"Bianca," said Nico.

"Phil," said Natasha and Clint.

"Bucky," whispered Steve.

"Pepper," said Tony.

"Director Fury," said Clary. Everyone looked at her in shock. "What? He helped me a lot."

"Hylla," said Reyna quickly. She averted her eyes.

Bruce nodded "Good, now what –"

"Sir, there is a disturbance on the roof," JARVIS smooth voice cut in.

"Thank you for alerting us JARVIS," Tony said eagerly, "tell us what it is. Make it descriptive." Around Percy, everyone nodded quickly in agreement. Anything to stop this stupid activity.

"Sir, my sensors indicate this creature should not exist."

Tony jumped up. "Finally, I've discovered an amazing phenomenon. What is it J? A dragon? An awesome spaceship?"

"Sir, this creature appears to have the structure of a horse. However, the genes are untraceable,"

Percy's mind buzzed. A horse? He extended his senses toward the roof.

_Hello?_ He thought.

_Boss! You got donuts?_

_Blackjack! _Percy grinned. _Wait, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at Pipers country house or something. Please tell me you didn't fly all the way to New York for donuts again._

_Nope boss. But now that you mention it, ya got any of those. Or sugar cubes?_

_Buddy, why are you here? _Percy feels the others looking at him weirdly. _Never mind, I come up._

"Guys, Blackjack is on the roof," Percy said.

"You have a card game on the roof?" Clint raised an eyebrow.

"Blackjack is his pegasus," explained Leo. "Horsey with wings."

Percy vapor bounced up to the roof.

"Blackjack, hey buddy," Percy hugged his pegasus.

"Gods, this is amazing!" Tony and Bruce rushed over to him.

"How do the wings hold up the weight? He can fly right? Are the genes a result crossbreeding?"Bruce rattled on with scientific questions.

"Bruce, JARVIS said the genes couldn't be identified. This is amazing. Can I have him? I'll give you one of my suits," Tony begged. "JARVIS, get pictures of this."

Blackjack snorted. _Who's this clown boss? I don't like him. _

Percy laughed. "Blackjack, these are the Avengers. They're friends."

Steve was staring at Blackjack it his mouth wide open. Natasha and Clint eyed Blackjack, but they didn't seem as shocked.

_Boss, I've got a package for you. They paid me 500 donuts to get to you._

"What?"

_I dropped them off a few roofs away. Dude said it was urgent, but I don't like him. He's got a message for you. I'll go get him. _

Relaying the exchange to his friends, Percy watched Blackjack fly over the skyscrapers.

Next to him, Bruce gasped and starting taking notes. "That is amazing," said Steve, he and Clary were sketching rapidly.

Percy watched two distant figures mount his pegasus. He could make out a boy, and another cloaked figure.

As they got closer, Percy widened his eyes. Behind him, Nico swore in three languages.

"I take it you know those two people on the horse," said Clint.

"I can identify one. He's supposes to be dead." said Nico. There was hostility in his tone.

"Luke is back," Percy said grimly.

**Dun dun dun (dramatic music). What do you guys think? Don't forget to review, I'm taking scene suggestions. You guys can help prevent writing blackouts. :)**

**ShadowfireX13 out – **


	16. Chapter 16

**Extra long chapter just 4 u awesome readers (and Percy Jackson of course, Happy Birthday Day! This is my present 2 u lol). Thx 2 all who reviewed the last chpt, you topped the most reviews per chpt 4 me! ! **

**Anyway, Im not gonna lie, the plot is gonna be a little shaky, but its my 1****st**** original plot, you guys can't expect me not 2 play around w/ a bunch of ideas. Hope you like the chpt :)**

** – ****ShadowfireX13**

**Percy POV**

Blackjack had just landed when Nico rushed forward. He tackled Luke, slamming him onto the roof. Screaming curses, Nico reared back and punched him in the jaw.

Steve and Clint rushed forward, restraining him, but not before he landed another punch in Luke's eye. "Calm down kid," grunted Steve.

Nico was struggling hard and shouting loud. "He should be dead! Murderer. Jerk. _Ut et pro agris suis actibus emortuus . Quare una vivere? Filius stultus agere conatu__ –_" Nico continued yelling curses in latin.

"Who is that?" asked Reyna, her trademark spear out. She had seen Nico's reaction and wasn't taking any chances.

Tony hovered over Luke. "Kid, you must have pissed the emo off pretty bad to get a reaction like that." Luke groaned. He held a hand over his injured eye. Staggering up, he looked around until he focused on Percy.

"Luke, what . . . how . . . why?" Percy ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. He didn't know whether to be angry or happy.

"Perce, I know I didn't die on good terms, but you have to hear me out man," Luke pleaded, "Please, for Annabeth." Percy winced.

"Did the kid just say he died?" Tony asked.

"Percy, at least help her," Luke helped the clocked figure off Blackjack, "She died a hero, you'll help her."

"Are you guys listening? They're saying the D word," exclaimed Tony, "How come no one is listening to me?" Bruce shushed him.

Luck pulled off the figurine's hood. Catching a glimpse of the face, Percy stumbled back in shock. The girl's face was streaked with dirt, but still recognizable. The much very alive, Bianca di Angelo limped forward, eyes wary.

"Bianca," Nico whispered. The fight died out of him as he stared at his dead sister. Backing up slowly, he nearly fell off the roof.

"Nico, you can trust Luke," she coughed, taking a step forward. Crying out on pain, she slumped in Luke's arms, promptly fainting.

"Help her," Luke yelled, "She has an injured calf." Percy snapped out of his daze.

"Leo, help me. We need to get here to the infirmary. Reyna, find ambrosia and nectar," Percy ordered. Reyna frowned, but went to find the healing supplies. Leo stepped forward to help Percy and Luke carry Bianca,

(Just a line break ignore me . . . . …. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .)

Percy watched Tony and Bruce do their best to heal Bianca. A celestial bronze knife was embedded deep in her calf, dried blood crusted around the hilt. Reyna was doing her best to trickle nectar into Bianca's mouth, but it wasn't looking very good. Nico stared worriedly at his suppose – to – be dead sister from a dark corner.

"Who are these two?" demanded Natasha. "I assume you both know them?"

"Didn't know you hang out with mortal these days Perce," said Luke. He looked exhausted.

"Luke what are you doing here?" Percy asked. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Who is he?" asked Natasha intensely. She was studying Luke like she wanted to gut him inside out. Reyna looked over, interested.

"He's a dead hero?"

"How is he dead?" Steve asked.

"Did _none_ of you listen to me before?" grumbled Tony.

"Ok, everyone calm down," Percy said. Taking a deep breath, he pointed at Luke. "This is Luke Castellan and that's Bianca di Angelo. They're . . . friends," He settled on. Nico growled at that word choice.

Leo stood up. "Wait, this is _the_ Luke? Like the evil one? Like the one that tried to take over –"

"Yes," Percy cut him off. He turned to Luke. "Luke, these are the Avengers. They are a mortal group that band together to save the world when it is endangered. They saved the world from an alien invasion."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you say," he said skeptically. "I only recognize him." He pointed at Tony. "He was on a billboard when we flew over a highway in Kansas. By the way, I hate your pegasus. It made me rob ten donut shops on the way here as payment."

Percy grinned. That seemed more like Blackjack.

"Percy, maybe a more specific intro," said Reyna.

"Right, Luke, the son of Hermes. He was Kronos's host and tried to take over Olympus in the battle of New York, er, the mortals call this time the Great Slumber or something like that. At the end, he sacrificed himself to kill Kronos forever." said Percy.

"How nice of you to summarize my life in three sentences," said Luke sarcastically.

"Do you really want me to tell them the bad parts?" asked Percy pointly.

"Wait, so he was dead?" said Steve.

"I was dead, now I alive," said Luke simply. Percy continued on with his intro.

"Luke, you already know Nico and I told you about the Avengers. Leo is a son of Hephaestus and Reyna is the daughter of Bellona. They are heroes from the Second Giant War." Percy blinked. "Damn, I have to explain that too. Ok, we found out Romans gods exist. There was a Roman camp.

The earth goddess Gaea tried to take over the world. So Hera tired to combine to Greeks and Romans. It worked, with a few minor problems, like a mini civil war. Anyway, she raised her sons the giants. So me and six others flew to Greece on a warship to destroy them with the gods." Percy ended the story there. "Now tell me how you aren't dead."

Nico nodded in agreement. He was wary of Luke, but Bianca's words seemed to have kept him from decking Luke again.

Luke shifted uncomfortably. He seemed to have adjusted to the fact that while he was dead, another war had gone by. Luke turned his hard blue eyes on the wall.

"Percy, thing are crazy as hell in the Underworld. Well, more than usual. You know how I got to the Isles. Well, there are like parties there almost every day, I think. Anyway, so one day, these skeletons with weapons led us off the isles to Hades palace. At least I think its Hades's palace. It was –"Luke stopped, "sorry, got off-track.

So there were other spirits too. Like lines of ghosts leading to the palace. Anyway, so when it was my turn to go in, they led me to a room. A dark lady was chanting things in Greek and another cloaked figure with a blue staff thing was watching.

Then they sent us out, to Asphodel I think, it could have been Punishment but I didn't see any furies. Anyway, they loaded us with gear and all the ghost starting working, making weapons.

There were hordes of monsters. They were all training. It was freaky; the dead all had glowing blue eyes and moved like zombies. I figure they would notice I didn't have the eyes so I ran for it. Found Charon's boat and took it for a ride.

I found Bianca hiding in a tunnel downstream so we escaped together. We probably got to close to the pit because monsters found our trail.

You can guess what happed when we hit the sunlight. We turned human, but Bianca got hurt. I figure out best chance was to find you. So I took a pegasus. It flew us to the camp, but it wasn't there, only a field of flowers. Then the pegasus turned around and flew toward New York. And we found you on top of a skyscraper."

Luke swallowed nervously. Percy stared at him in shock. _Was he serious? _Everyone was also staring at Luke, slackjawed.

"That's a cheerful story," interrupted Tony, "Meanwhile; the girl is losing a blood. And the wound is smoking, is that normal for you guys?"

Percy whipped around. "It's smoking like when Jason got stabbed in the stomach?"

"Very helpful, but I need real medical advice. Bruce and I can't really treat this," said Tony, "Believe it or not, we don't have the equipment. The knife hit a major artery, and if we take it out, she could lose a lot more blood. "

"The ambrosia and nectar isn't working either," said Reyna. She turned to Clary. "Can you help her? Do that thing again?"

Clary shifted. "I'm not sure. Just because it worked on you doesn't mean it'll work for her."

"What are you talking about? If you can help her, do it," demanded Nico.

"I can heal her," said Clary slowly, "but it doesn't work on everyone. It can turn her into a gray zombie monster if it doesn't take effect."

"You can zombified people?" said Tony disbelievingly, "Can you make vampires too? Werewolves?" Everyone ignored him.

"It worked on me, it can work on her too," insisted Reyna.

"Do it," said Luke, "you can't let her die." He gave Clary a desperate look.

Clary looked uncertain. "Do it," said Nico softly.

Clary whipped out her wand stick from her boots. Kneeling over the knife, she took a deep breath. "Take out the knife," she said.

Bruce blanched. "But –"

Clary pulled the knife out swiftly. She let it clatter onto the floor. She held the stick like a pencil and starting marking the wound. Percy watched as Clary drew some kind of symbol on Bianca's skin. Blood mixed with ink that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

She drew two more marks, before stepping back. They waited.

"Well, she doesn't look like a zombie," said Leo a few minutes later, "Thanks the gods, I love my brain the way it is."

One of Tony's machine started beeping. "What's that?" asked Nico nervously. He was trying to act casual, but Percy could tell he was worried for his sister.

"It's amazing," breathe Bruce. Tony was gaping at the screens.

"What is it?" snapped Natasha. "Spit it out."

"The wound is closing. The tissue and skin is mending and new blood cells are appearing out of nowhere." Tony gaped a Clary. "What kind of tattoo was that?"

Clary tucked her wand back into her boot. "I don't remember exactly, but I know it suppose to heal."

"Do you know any other ones?" asked Natasha cautiously.

Clary rolled up her sleeve. Percy now understood why she always wore long sleeves. Silver scars marred her arm up and down. All weird symbols. "They'll leave scars like this. I guess they lose power over time so you have to retrace them."

"Fascinating," murmured Bruce.

"Yep, we and officially the biggest band of weirdoes in the world," said Leo grinning, "If we exist, who knows what else could be out there. Fairies, unicorns, Bigfoot, and the robot apocalypse could all be real." He smiled dreamily.

"Right," said Tony, "Anyway, she's stable. By my calculations, she should be fully healed in a few hours. Might take a day or two for her to wake, but she'll be fine."

He was interrupted by Luke's stomach growling.

"Huh," Leo smirked, "That's usually Percy's thing."

Luke looked down sheepishly. "Haven't really eaten in two days. I forgot you have to eat when you're alive."

"To the kitchen," said Tony dramatically, "We can discuss all crazy events over pizza!"

Thirty pizza boxes later, Percy leaned back contently. The others were still chewing, but they looked about finished.

"So Clary, does Fury know about your . . . ability?" Natasha carefully phrased.

"Yes," she said, "He had me demonstrate on a few dummies, but they exploded or were altered complete. Cared the sh*t out of a few newbies."

"No one thinks we should discuss the creepy dead world stuff," asked Leo. He looked around. "No, ok . . ." Percy looked to Luke.

"Luke, what you described is . . ." Percy struggled for the words.

"Crazy," finished Nico. "My father – Hades would have never let that happen. The souls of Elysium and the Isles shouldn't have been disturbed they way you are suggesting." He glared at Luke. "I don't like my father, but I do trust him to treat the dead correctly."

"Didn't you tell us he uses skeletons as servants," asked Leo innocently. Nico scowled.

"You make it sound like Hades is planning for a war on Olympus," said Reyna thoughtfully. "Though it is unusual considering Nico is on our side."

"No way," said Nico, "Dad couldn't plan a war on Olympus. It would have a lot more people killed and Asphodel is already overcrowded."

"Yeah, like that is the problem with starting a war," Leo said sarcastically.

"If you know my dad, its one reason he wouldn't be doing what that (insert swear word here) was implying with his little story," Nico's death glare would have killed Luke ten times over.

"But it makes sense. He could arm the monsters against Olympus. Didn't Triton say that some gods weren't happy with Zeus's decision?" Reyna point out.

"He said Poseidon was mad too but you aren't accusing Percy's dad of starting another war," said Nico, his voice rising.

"Calm down, both of you," said Steve. Nico shut up, scowling.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Reyna.

"Does his dad really have skeleton servants?" asked Tony.

"Stark, are you even paying attention?" demanded Reyna.

"Yeah, a war, blah blah blah blah. But the skeleton servant part really sticks out," said Tony.

"If his father is planning to attack Olympus, we need to alert Fury," said Natasha.

"You don't even know where that is," snorted Tony.

"No one has the right to start a war," she retorted.

"Olympus, the gods' domain is on top of the Empire State building," squeaked Leo. "600 floor according to Percy."

Natasha rose from her seat in a very scary way. "Are you telling me there may be another potentially dangerous attack on New York? From your kind?"

"It's a possibility," said Reyna, "Rationally, you could propose that idea."

"You're basing this on a maybe," protested Nico, "And you got this information from a dead guy who turned out to be a traitor."

"Luke was a hero," Percy said.

"He is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of demigods." Nico argued.

"You're exaggerating," Percy said offhandedly.

"You know I'm right here, right?" said Luke. Percy and Nico ignored him.

"He's the reason my sister had to die," Nico said bitterly.

"He just brought her back," Percy reminded him.

"With a dagger _in her leg_! How can you even trust him? You hated him," Nico accused.

"He saved us in the end. He died a hero. And if Annabeth trusted him, so can I," Percy insisted.

"Well look how she turned out, dead!" Nico said. Percy clenched a fist. Clint's water bottle exploded.

"Sorry," Percy apologized. Nico breathe heavily as he and Percy had a stare down. Percy forced himself to bury his emotions down. Finally, Nico looked away.

"Did you say Annabeth died?" Luke whispered.

"It wasn't you fault," Percy said.

Luke choked. "She's dead?" He stumbled back toward a window.

"Kid," Natasha warned. Everyone tensed, in case Luke was running for it.

Then, the window shattered. Luke tried to leap away. His head knocked hard on book shelf and he rolled over unconscious.

Percy immediately jumped up, Riptide in hand. Nico summoned a sword from the shadows and Reyna vaulted over the counter with her spear out.

Steve grabbed his shield and Tony's suit flew over and encased him. Natasha and Clint were already approaching, weapons out. Leo had a fire ball in hand and Clary had a hand on her sword. Bruce sat in a corner breathing slowly, trying to keep the Hulk under control.

Nothing happened. The window stayed broken and nothing came in.

"Nothing," reported Natasha, "it broke on its own." Tony walked over and scanned Luke.

"He'll be out for a few hours."

"Um guys . . ." Leo said.

"Not now Leo," said Reyna. She was examining the window, like Natasha.

"Guys . . ."

"Is he going to be ok?" Percy asked, ignoring Leo.

"Just a minor concussion," answered Tony, "We might have to –".

"GUYS," Leo yelled. He was staring at the floor below the big crack.

A metallic sheen was over it. Reyna and Natasha immediately backed up.

"Tony, scan it," ordered Steve.

"Look," Leo pointed at the window. The same gray liquid was running down the sides and into the room. It looked like silver sludge. Percy shuddered as memory of tar monsters came back.

"It metal," said Tony. "Liquid titanium with traces of silver and vibranium."

"What? I thought Howard use the last of that stuff," said Steve.

Percy watched as the metal rose up. It formed into a metallic person.

"What the hell?" muttered Clint. He readied another arrow. Everyone took a defensive stance.

"Hands up," said Natasha clearly, "Do you understand me? Stand down or we will attack."

The figure morphed into another person Percy hadn't seen in years. The metallic version of Ethan Nakamura regarded them closely. Color began to appear over him until he looked completely like Ethan, human - like wise.

"That's awesome," said Tony. "And impossible. Who the hell made this before me?"

Percy stepped forward. "I don't know how you look like that, but if you are Ethan, then stand down."

Ethan regarded him with glowing blue eyes. "Perseus Jackson, your time has not come. Hand over Luke Castellan and Bianca di Angelo and no harm will come to you."

"No way," said Nico.

"What do you plan to do to them?" Percy asked cautiously.

"My orders are termination. Do not interfere or I shall be forced to engage you in combat." Ethan stared at them all impassively.

"It's talking like a robot," observed Leo. "I wonder if it's got gears and wires too."

"Sorry, Ethan, I can't let you do that," Percy readied his sword.

Ethan robot narrowed its eyes. "Attack mode engaged." Ethan's right hand changed into a sword arm. He rushed forward and swung. Percy ducked and stabbed at the chest, which Ethan easily blocked. He punched Percy's shoulder; Percy could feel numbness spreading over.

Shadow tendrils wrapped around at Ethan and grabbed him back. Ethan melted out of the binds and reformed in front of Reyna.

She spun her spear immediately, which he blocked. Steve threw his shield, but it clanked off Ethan like a toothpick. Nico jumped on his and smashed his sword hilt on Ethan's head, but it didn't even make a dent. Ethan tossed Nico onto the ground carelessly.

"He's impenetrable," shouted Clary. Her telekinesis didn't seem to have effect much either.

"His arm," said Tony, "Look at its left arm!" Percy looked at Ethan's arm. It had a picture, like a makers mark. A skull octopus with six arms? Percy mentally searched his mind. In the background, Clary swore in German.

"_Hydra_? _Hydra_ did this to you," Percy said. Ethan didn't reply, but he did swipe at Percy again.

"I wish Hazel was here," said Leo, "She might have better luck with this clown." He was lobbing fireball after fireball at Ethan while he was punching at Natasha. It melted off parts of him, but more metal covered the burn parts so Ethan looked good as new. Fire seemed to be the only effective thing so far.

"Guys," Percy gestured at the fireplace.

Reyna got it immediately. She kicked Ethan in the chest, while Natasha distracted him. As Ethan stumbled back, Steve's shield and an arrow from Clint caught him in the ribs, keeping him off balance. A telekinetic wave from Clary, a repulsor beam from Tony, and a shadow slam from Nico knocked Ethan in the fireplace.

Percy slammed his palm into the floor. Fire roared to life in the fire place. "Keep him in," Percy yelled.

Clary and Nico immediately create a wall of energy and shadows, blocking his exit. Percy willed the fire to burn hotter. _More_, he mentally screamed. The flames turned blinding white.

"It's going supernova," yelled Leo, "Close your eyes!"

Percy dove for the floor and shut his eyes. A small bang erupted and almost ruptured his eardrums.

He opened his eyes. Clary and Nico's shield seemed to have blocked most of the blast. The walls had scorch marks and burnt metal.

He turned to the broken window and swore under his breath. Silver metal was trickled outside. A dismembered Ethan was reforming, metal rejoining together.

"I'll be back," said Ethan. He flew out the window. Percy ran to the window. There was no trace left of him. He turned to his friends. Steve and Tony were dragging Luke off the infirmary. There were only a few minor injuries, that was a relief.

Reyna flipped her spear back into a coin grimly. "Percy, who was that . . ."

**Unknown POV**

A lone figure walked through a dark corridor. It came to stop before a dark throne and knelt down. "Master, I bring news."

"Good news I hope?" The voice rang from the throne, echoing through the room. The figure shivered. Her master was shrouded in the shadows, not a part of him was visible except for his hand which clutched the scepter. He radiated fear that way, but she would always stay loyal.

"I have done as you ordered. Ethan tracked down the rogue duo, but they were residing inside our enemy's territory." The figure tugged on her hair nervously.

"There is more?"

"He engaged them in combat," she whispered, "And lost. He failed."

"What?" The roar was so loud it shattered a vase. "I specifically instructed him to lie low. Kill the liabilities without alerting the demigods. He wasn't strong enough to engage them."

"Perhaps, it is not such a bad thing my lord," the figure suggested, "It will alert them of our power."

"NO! That's how we were defeated last time! We will work in the dark for now, lest we lose this battle before it even begins!" The figure cowered.

"What do you suggest my lord?"

"Have Ethan punished, then finish his conditioning. Continue the training of the troops. This has delayed us; we must not fall behind more."

"What about the rogues?"

"Let them be, for now, we have more important things to prepare for. They will have to wait." Her master sounded like he was smiling. The figure relaxed slightly.

"Are we going with the move as planned?"

"Yes, send out a distraction to cover our deeds. And alert the jailors."

The figure retreated into the darkness. "As you wish master. . ."


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey every1, so I read all your reviews (again). I'm becoming more aware of the plot holes I made, so I'll try to fill them in as I go. **

**Also, I going to try to diminish Clary's role in this story seeing she is a side character, but I have a important part planned for her, so we'll see how that goes. I think I'm portraying her too powerfully, so I need to find a way to fix that too. (BTW, this does not have a single bit of ****_Terminator Genysis_****. Ethan was just based off the villains, but he is human. I think I watched it too many times and had too much coffee the last chpt XD)**

**You'll see the other four of the group come into the story more actively later, at least according to my plan.**

**Finally, updating schedule in going to be slowed to monthly(ish) updates as school is starting. It'll speed up when I can handle my school work . . . probably around thanksgiving, so very sorry about that. Hope you like the chpt . . . **

**BTW I'm taking suggestions for powers the seven can gain, the list 4 Nico is 2 short :(**

**Reyna POV**

Reyna leaned away from her laptop, exhausted. Still nothing on radar. She had Leo invent the tracking system years ago to help find her sister. Maybe it needed an update.

Reyna downed another gulp of her hot chocolate. No one else was usually up here at midnight, except for Clary. Reyna could see her right on the edge of balcony, like she was going to jump. But she was just sketching again.

Sometimes, Reyna wondered if Clary would jump. She reminded Reyna of Hylla, fearless and daunting. Reyna wondered if Clary would be different with her memory.

"Hi." Reyna instantly snapped into the present, reflexively reaching for her spear. She mentally forced herself to retract her hand.

"Hi, Steve, do you need something?" Cue internal sigh. Steve acted way to much like Jason, the one she liked: too leader like and nice, the kind of person that made you feel guilty when you do something wrong. Reyna knew it wasn't fair to judge him like that, but she could help it.

"Ah, no, not really," He looked sheepish, "I mean yes, I ah, wanted to talk you."

"Ask away," she mumbled, eyes wandering to the glowing computer screen. Her mind drifted. Did she remember to turn her English paper?

"The boy, Luke, is the information he said true?" Steve shifted uncomfortably.

"Percy seems to trust him, so I say yes. However, his judgment could be clouded by guilt for Annabeth. Luke Castellan was a hero in the end; I see no reason to doubt his word yet. When Nico's sister wakes up, we should have more confirmation of his character." Reyna bit her lip.

"Do you really believe Nico's dad is declaring war on New York?" Reyna arched an eyebrow. Steve reddened. "You can hardly blame me for asking that question. I am just looking out for my team."

"It was just a deduction. There could be plenty of other explanations," Reyna said carefully. Her mind had already done calculations. There would be no logical way less than 20 people could fight off an army. But they could stall, like Horatius once did. She studied Steve, who was looking really guilty.

"As I said, it was just a deduction. If you're worried about Nico, I assure you he will not betray us at all. I trust him with my life. He can be defensive of his father at times, but he's my friend. Pluto isn't exactly the most popular god, but he isn't necessarily evil." Reyna met his gaze unwaveringly.

Steve nodded. "I'll take your word for it." He glanced at her laptop. "Sorry, were you doing something? I'm not really familiar computers, but it looks important. I shouldn't have bothered you."

"No, fine, I'm done anyway," Reyna said. "You want to spar. I would ask Clary, but it looks like she has a lot on her mind right now."

"Sure, but I'm not really good with swords," admitted Steve.

"Yeah, no problem Cap, we'll do it hand to hand," said Reyna breezily. She scooped up her laptop. "And is there a reason you're being nice to me?"

"What?"

"You're acting like nicer/ more polite than usual," she said, walking. "I trained to read people. It's not that hard."

"I try to get to know everyone on my team. Team bonding helps with trust," he explained.

"Right," she said, "Romans thought along those lines too."

They reached the training floor. Reyna set her laptop safely by the door, a slight smirk on her face. "By the way, you can use your shield if you need to . . ."

**Percy POV**

Percy wandered into the infirmary, package in hand, knowing he would find Nico there. Despite his silent attitude, Percy knew Nico cared about his sister.

He was right. Nico slumped in a chair next to Bianca's bed. Percy crept in quietly, noticing Nico had tucked his sister in and removed the grime from her hair. He shook Nico gently.

"Bianca!" Nico sprung up. He looked around wildly, before noticing Percy. "Oh, it's just you," He muttered scowling. "What do you what?"

Percy held up the bag, a McDonalds Happy Meal. "Truce?"

Nico took the bag hesitantly. "Fine, truce," he murmured. Nico started wolfing down the French fries.

"You didn't eat dinner did you?" Percy said amusedly. Nico shook his head. Percy glanced at Bianca, the girl that had once caused so much animosity and hate between them. The one who sacrificed herself for the greater good. "How is she?"

"Stable, according to Bruce," said Nico. They fell into an awkward silence.

"Soooooo we're cool right?"

"Yes, I know you didn't mean it," said Nico. He paused. "I still hate Castellan though."

"Sure you do," said Percy, walking off.

"By the way Percy, next time, DON'T WAIT ME UP AT MIDNIGHT!" Nico yelled.

Percy winced, but he was already out the door. "Shut up, you'll wake up everyone," he called back sarcastically. Percy shook his head. Never disturb a sleepy Nico. He always forgot this lesson, which applied to almost all his friends.

Percy walked down the hall. He couldn't sleep. Luke had brought news that haunted his brain. He constantly worried, about his parents, and Annabeth. He hoped she was ok.

Unconsciously, Percy felt himself dissolve into vapor and reappear on Montauk Beach.

He took a deep breath of the salty sea air. Percy relaxed immediately. Seeing that the area was secluded, he sat on a rock outcrop and closed his eyes. Percy let his walls fall down and channeled all his suppressed emotions to the water.

The moonlight reflected off the watery surface. Percy shut his eyes harder, focusing. He let the power of the sea encase him. He literally could hear billions of fish chattering and swimming around. Apparently midnight was a chatroom for fish.

Without opening his eyes, Percy raised a few gallons of water. He willed it to freeze into a spiky ring. Percy opened his eyes to examine his work. Perfect. Spinning it, he exploded it into a billion pieces. His powers were getting stronger. Percy discovered new abilities ever day. One time, he woke up in an impenetrable water bubble. It had taken an hour to figure out how to undo it.

"You ignored my summons," An annoyingly familiar voice chimed in.

"I don't follow your orders," Percy said coldly without turning around, "My friends did that quest for you, which caused the release of Khione. The least you can do now is leave us alone."

Percy mentally started cursing in four languages.

"Did father teach you to respect the gods? There is no question why Zeus continuously insists on your death. But do not fret, I accept your apology."

Percy scowled. "Go away, you and all your immortal buddies. Why can't you leave us alone?"

"You came here seeking answers and peace. One of those things you may receive," mused Triton. Percy frowned, why did gods always seem to be reading his mind?

"Is Hades declaring war?" He immediately winced. _ Way to seem desperate idiot,_ he mentally chided himself. Percy turned to glare at his half brother.

Triton's eyes flashed. "Why do you think our _uncle_ is declaring war?"

"I have sources," said Percy carefully, "I know there is unrest in the underworld."

"The realm of the dead does not concern the kingdom of the sea," said Triton haughtily.

"You have friends, you must have heard something. An invasion from the underworld could destroy the lives of millions of mortals. Why aren't you concerned about this?"

"Gods do not interfere with mortals," Triton said. Percy snorted. If that was true, he would eat his socks. "Directly," added Triton.

"You have to know something? Would Zeus and Poseidon be worried about Hades, I'm mean, if he is declaring war?" Percy added. Hades was kinder to him after the war so Percy was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but gods seemed to have mood swings like they were ordering food a restaurant. Pick something one day, get another the next.

"There has been some rumors," said Triton uncertainly, "But, as much as I despise saying this, Hades is innocent to your accusations."

Percy made a go – on gesture with his hands.

"I have an . . . understanding with Thanatos," Triton said.

"Wait, you're hanging out with the god of death?" Percy suppressed a grin.

"I owed him a favor," said Triton stiffly, "The Styx never forgets. Anyway, he informed me that the underworld is no longer in Hades's control. He was forced to flee and hide." Triton smirked at that list bit. "Coward."

"This is starting to sound like some movie conspiracy," muttered Percy. "Let e guess, the other gods aren't doing anything because they are poisoned or don't care."

Triton shrugged. "Pretty much, yes."

Percy ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. "Where can I find Thanatos? I want to talk to him."

"I do not know his whereabouts, not many do. You can seek out Apollo, he may know. I would suggest Nereus, but that old fool is rotting in Tartarus."

"Apollo?"

"I believe he is in Delphi," said Triton, "bumbling fool is lost in the tunnels."

"Greece, back to Greece," muttered Percy. He turned around. "Thanks for the info."

"You sure you want to go down this road, brother? There is no going back," called Triton.

"I'll protect the Earth and my friends with my last breathe," swore Percy darkly. He dissolved into the night.

**Leo POV**

Leo loved spinning chairs. They go 'round, and 'round, and 'round, and 'round, and –.

"Stop that," said Tony annoyed. He grabbed Leo's chair, effectively putting it to a stop. "I brought you down here to help with my armor, not annoy me until my head explodes."

Leo grinned. "Relax T – man, this is how I think. Would you rather me tinkle with a grenade absentmindedly?" Tony paled. "Thought not," Leo said smugly.

"Just help me upgrade the armor," sighed Tony, "if we're fighting another war, I want to bring my best to the field. And laugh in Hammer's face when he sees me kicking ass."

"Who's Hammer?" asked Leo curiously.

"No one," grumbled Tony.

Leo shrugged and changed the subject. "You won't have to worry about fighting. Reyna and Percy are probably being paranoid." Tony frowned.

"Don't tell them I said that," said Leo quickly, "But I'm with Nico on this one. That Luke guy is probably lying. He could be Octavian's buffer twin bro. Gives off creep vibes."

"Who's that again?"

"Oh, he was that nut job who got himself killed trying to prove he was a hero. He slaughtered teddy bears." Leo shuddered. "You should hear Frank talk about that guy, Teddy – Bear Ripper, Stuffed Killer, Cuddly Hunter, etc."

Tony chuckled.

Leo jumped up as a though popped into his head. "Hey, is the other project done?"

Tony shook his head. "JARVIS is still downloading the new codes, assuming it accepts it."

Leo lumped back down. "I'm gonna give it a name. Maybe . . . the _Valdezinator. _What about Leo 2.0?" Tony rolled his eyes. He muttered something like, "and people think I'm conceited."

Leo tuned him out. He started playing Flappy Bird on his phone, using his other hand to write new coding. Ting! Tony looked over curiously.

"Text message," said Leo, "From Piper.

_Piper: LEO!_

_Leo: Sup Beauty Q._

_Piper: Have u c the news lately?!_

_Leo: Nope, u missed d xcitement! Did R tell u guys?_

_Piper: Later, u hav 2 turn d TV on now!_

_Leo: Is this a prank? Tell J nice try_

_Piper: NO! JUST DO IT_

_Leo: …..ok_

Leo frowned. "Yo, JARVIS, bring up the latest news."

The TV on the wall blinked to life. Leo started at the screen in shock. Next to him, Tony had dropped the wrench in shock.

"Get Reyna down here now!"


	18. Chapter 18

**Reyna POV**

Reyna wondered if Piper would forgive her for throttling Leo. First Percy's not very dead hero – traitor friend shows up on a pegasus, along with Nico's sister. Then she gets dirt on a potential attack from Hades. And now Leo is blabbering a mile an hour pointing at the TV THAT HAD THEIR FACES PLASTERED OVER CNN!

Reyna exhaled slowly. "Leo, calm down, what did you do exactly?"

"I didn't do anything this time, I swear," blabbered Leo, "Piper just texted me to turn on the TV and I saw thatsoIcalledyoudownheretotellyoueventhoughIknewyouwouldprebablyblamemeand . . ." His next words became incoherent. Next to him, Stark was smirking.

"What did you do Stark," She narrowed her eyes.

He held his hands up. "I didn't do that," he pointed at the TV, "if that's what you're referring to. I just find if funny you're freaking out cause your faces are on TV."

Reyna flipped open her laptop and typed in a few search words. Gee, ten million results in three second. She scrolled through the website headlines: _News Avengers are Kids, Government recruiting minors to do dirty work, Kid Avengers, Is SHEILD recruiting minors?, Children Forced into Espionage, etc._

"Call everyone in now," she ordered.

**Percy POV**

SLAM! Reyna's laptop crashed on top of the table.

"Which one of you did this?" She was glaring daggers at the Avengers. Percy glanced over.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Its footage from our raid at the monster fort," she said, "The footage was emailed to the biggest news corporations around the world. I measure the angles; it has to one of you, since I trust my friends to not be _idiotae_."She hissed.

Well that explained the clusters of press gathered around the tower, Percy mused.

"Did she call us idiots in Latin?" muttered Tony. Leo nodded.

Percy cleared his head. "Reyna, I should –"

"Interrogation," she snapped. Percy decided to shut up for now. He could always tell them his intel later. Aurum and Argentum materialized into the room. Sensing Reyna's agitation, they immediately got into fighting stances, growling at Tony.

"I would really like to examine them, but I rather have my suit on first," gulped Tony.

"Call off the dogs," said Steve as calmly as he could. Percy could see Natasha casually examining her tasers. He reached into his pocket for Riptide. Nico was already tense. Clary was staring at Reyna concernedly.

"Yeah, no dogs allowed in the tower," said Tony as snarkily as he could (Percy could see his eyes showing fear and determination), "And why are they automatically assuming I'm the bad guy? If anything, I'm the most defenseless one here!" Clint and Percy hid their smiles.

"Trying to change the subject, interrogation reaction 22, you are guilty!" screeched Reyna.

Steve leaned over to Percy. "Is she ok? She was fine before she went down to the lab. I've never seen anything like this."

Percy grimaced. "Just go with it. It's kinda a side effect of from Athena's blessing. Occasionally, she would become paranoid and really agitated. Then comes the yelling and screeching and overreacting, basically overanalyzing everything and spotting every little detail; it comes in handy sometimes . . . ish." He caught a look at Steve's expression. "Relax, it wears off . . . eventually."

Nico karate chopped her in the neck. She promptly collapsed. _Well, that's one way to do it_, Percy thought dryly.

"What the hell was that?" Tony asked.

"Just forget it," said Leo breezily. Percy willed water to splash on her face.

She instantly bolted up. "Thanks Nico," she said, in her normal emotionally guarded voice. Percy waved his hand, instantly drying her off. She gave him an appreciative nod.

"I needed to speak to Fury," she decided. Scooping up her laptop, she jumped into the nearest shadow. They all exchanged glances.

"I hate to be repetitive, but what was that?" asked Clint.

"Teenage girl hormones," muttered Tony, "Bipolar reactions and mood swings." Leo giggled. Percy gave him a _dude–what–the–heck–was–that_ look, which made his laugh harder.

"As you could clearly see, our identities were blown," said Nico, rolling his eyes at Leo's antics.

"You three seem rather calm about this," noted Natasha.

"I really don't care," said Percy, "I can always Mist up everyone. I have twenty current identities and I know chameleon techniques. Jason, Piper, Frank, and Hazel are still anonymous. Leo can change his appearance will his will. And Nico and Reyna are even stealthier than me. Plus the footage was blurry and our faces were partially hidden." Natasha nodded, a glint of impressed in her eyes.

"Reyna was just . . . well, is kind of hard to explain," said Leo, "Imma go with nasty side effect of Athena's blessing. I always knew that smart lady was a crazy, though I'm still ranking Tia Callida first."

Percy grinned. "Yup, Athena gave me the fight senses and Reyna the smartness." He snapped his fingers. "Speaking of gods, I need to tell you guys something."

"More words from you wise brother who lives _under the sea," _said Leo grinning.

Percy gave his best shut–up glare. "I would summarize it. He was basically implying some big conspiracy and the Underworld is tied into it. But if there's a war, Hades is defiantly not the guy who planned it." Percy sent a quick text to Reyna repeating what he just said.

Leo nodded. "I always knew the death lord wouldn't be the cause of billions of deaths." Nico glared at him.

"Mister Stark, one of the guests is coming out of coma," said JARVIS, probably interrupting one of Leo's "smart" remarks.

"He was unconscious, not in coma JARVIS," Tony corrected. They all hurried down to the infirmary.

Yep, J was right. Luke was up, looking disoriented, but he was up.

"Hmm," Tony observed the screen, "Vital signs all okay. Bruises will be gone approximately in two days."

"One and a half days," corrected Bruce.

"Right," said Tony, looking slightly irritated.

Luke had a wild look in his eyes. "Hey, are you sure he's fine? He's getting an Octavian look, just saying," said Leo defensively.

"I need paper . . . and a pen," he muttered. Percy glanced at Clary; she was the one who seemed to be drawing all the time. Clary whipped out her sketch pad out of nowhere and tore off a page. She handed Luke the paper and pen.

He grasp the pen tightly and starting drawing rapidly. Minutes later, he held up the picture.

"A spear?" Leo was staring at the paper quizzically. "Do you want me to make you that or something, cuz . . . why are you looking at me like that?"

Percy glanced at the Avengers. All the adults had shocked looks on their faces. Clary had also widened her eyes in surprise.

"Do you know what this is?" asked Luke urgently, "Have you seen it?"

Tony grimaced. "Isn't that Loki's scepter? The one that turned Bird Brain into a evil sidekick?"

"Yeah Tony, _that's_ the _importan_t thing about the scepter," said Clint sarcastically. His fists were tightened slightly.

"This is the spear the Dark One carries," said Luke. There were a few incredulous and confused looks. "The Dark One is what the cloaked guy calls himself. He's got a scary voice so no one really objects," explained Luke.

Percy felt anger clawing up his throat. The cup of water next to Bianca started boiling.

"Percy," Nico warned. Cracks stared forming on the cup.

"I'm fine, really," Percy gritted out. He took several deep breathes, calming himself. _Once I kill that SOB who killed my family, I will be totally fine,_ he thought darkly.

The others hadn't noticed the tension, except for Clary and Natasha, who were giving him slightly wary glances.

"That's impossible, the spear is under SHIELD custody," said Clint, oblivious.

Clary shook her head, tearing her gaze from Percy. "No, it's in the hands of HYDRA. My instructor showed me it once."

Natasha looked at Luke and Clary, her eyes calculating. "I'll talk to Fury," she said finally.

"_Shit_," Clint swore.

"Language," chided Leo sarcastically, "You are damaging our minds by exposing them to _such_ dirty words."

"No, I forgot to tell you guys about Thor. Coulson told Fury Thor went back to Asgard after visiting Jane. Something about an emergency."

"That's one less ally," said Nico, earning himself a few looks. "What? I'm just counting in case this really becomes a war."

"Back to the specter," said Clary, "What is it? I never got the full report on it."

"It's a spear Loki carried with him when he attacked New York. It can be used for mind control," said Bruce. Percy stared at the floor, trying to see if he could sense the underworld to see if Annabeth was ok.

"It also shoots wicked cool laser beams," said Tony. Leo got wide eyes.

"I have to see that! Let's take a vaca to the dead world!"

"I want to see zombies!" Tony exclaimed. He and Leo got the crazed eye look.

"Since Reyna isn't here, I'll say it for her. Both of you SHUT THE HADES UP!" Nico yelled.

Percy decided this was a good time to step in. "Alright, cool it. Luke, come with Clary and me. Describe the scepter to her; maybe she can sketch it better. Everyone else, scream somewhere else so Bianca isn't disturbed," he said.

"I should really do a check up on her," said Bruce quietly. He eyed Nico warily.

"Come on Tin Man, we could go build something amazing and then freak out everyone with it," said Leo.

"This kid is like the best present I ever got," declared Tony. Both of them blew out of the room, jabbering nonsense.

"I better not find any robot spiders in the vents again," yelled Clint.

**Reyna POV**

Reyna jumped out of a shadow right in front of the SHIELD building. Avoiding the gang of reporters outside the front doors, she slipped into the building.

She Misted up herself to walk undetected to Fury's floor. She headed immediately to the double doors.

"Freeze," Reyna stopped. A dark hair woman held a gun to her head. "I don't know how you managed to get up here, but you are not going through that door."

"Maria Hill, Natasha described you well," she said dryly. Reyna spun, knocking the gun out of her grip. Reyna caught it and disabled the trigger. "Did she mention me to you?" Reyna held the agent's gaze levelly.

Hill blinked. "You must be Reyna," she said, "Piper told me a lot about you."

"I need to speak to Fury," said Reyna. "And you might want to take care of the paparazzi on your doorstep."

"They are there again? I thought Coulson talked them off," She hurried away to the elevators. "It was nice meeting you."

Reyna stepped through the doors into Fury's office.

Fury sat at a desk full of files. He glanced up. "Miss Arellando, what brings you barging into my office?"

"I see you checked out my past," said Reyna. A glimmer of respect tinted her voice.

"We do checks on everyone in the world," said Fury mildly. He glanced out the window. "I suppose you are here because of the recent news."

Reyna nodded.

Fury turned back to his papers. "Coulson is working on that. He is dealing with the press, but the pictures are already out. He is suggesting you hold a press conference."

"Excuse me?" He phone buzzed. She ignored it.

"We are suggesting you tell the media you are new avenger recruits. You have abilities to disguise yourself correct? Coulson is proposing to present you as new heroes. We will have to give you new code names, as we cannot have anyone associating you with the mercenary part of your lives."

Reyna frowned. That would solve a lot of problems, but it could also put them in the spotlight.

"What about Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank?"

"They are on a mission. I've deduced they can stay anonymous, they weren't in the video," said Fury.

Reyna nodded. She walked to the darkest corner in the room.

"How is Clarissa doing?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Clary's doing great, but her memory isn't really improving." She omitted the part about how Clary draws in her sleep. She had personally seen the art. Some were breathtaking; others were disturbing, sort of making her question her friend's mental condition.

"Clarissa is one of our most valuable assets. She holds a great deal of information in her mind, and despite her being a recent addition, she is more experienced than some of our senior agents. I hope you can help her with her mental state," said Fury.

"Clary is perfectly capable of handling herself, I have full confidence in her abilities," said Reyna quietly, melting into the shadows.


	19. Chapter 19

**Leo POV**

"I love that idea," Leo exclaimed. He bounced up and down happily.

Reyna scowled. "We aren't doing this for fun Leo."

"But we'll be famous. Who knows, maybe I'll meet Beyonce!" He grinned.

"Leo, you already met her. You crashed her Christmas party," said Percy, smiling at the memory "Which was EPIC!"

"No way?! That was you who hacked the screens to play fall out boy?!" Tony exclaimed.

"That isn't relevant," said Reyna, glaring at the three of them. Leo immediately put on his best thinking – really – hard face. He swallowed a laugh.

"I know what my code name should be. How does Red Flash sound?" Leo struck as pose.

"Actually, you look more like Superman in that pose," said Percy.

Leo frowned disappointedly. "Guess I can't use that one then. Jason owns that image."

"Guys, we have to pick names that doesn't connect us to our assassin identities," said Reyna, "If you don't take this serious Leo, I'm confiscating your Celestial bronze supply. And I'll let Piper paint Festus pink."

Leo blanched. "You wouldn't," he said, unconvincingly. Reyna stared sternly at him.

"What's you code name?" asked Percy.

"I decided to go with Star," said Reyna, "If any of you comment. I swear I'll . . ."

"You remind me more of Clarisse every day," sighed Percy.

Leo bolted up. "I have the perfect name!" He paused for dramatic affect. "FlareFix! Cause I have flare, and I fix things." He crossed his arms. "I'm not changing it. I like that name. I'm a genius, right?"

Rena looked at Percy. "Um, Hurricane?" He suggested. She shook her head. "Typhoon? Tempest? Tornado? Cyclone? Tsunami"

"Those are synonyms of hurricane," noted Clary. Natasha nodded in agreement.

"Ariel, Elsa, Flounder?" Leo piped up.

"GeoTect ?" Percy said. Reyna made a face.

"Why that?" asked Clint.

"I can create earthquakes," said Percy, like it was obvious

"Percy has tectokinesis," explained Nico, "He can explode volcanoes, create earthquakes, move islands, tectonic plates and stuff like that."

"So you can basically split apart America and you forgot to mention it," said Tony in disbelief.

"Whoops," Percy muttered.

"Nico?"

"Skeleton," he answered.

"Ok," Reyna said.

"Oh sure, Nico always gets what he wants," Leo pouted. Reyna pointed at his face.

"That's exactly why."

"When's the conference?" asked Percy.

"At six, and yes you have to dress up, but in the uniform you'll use for battle," said Reyna.

"Comicon, assemble," sang Leo. He faltered when he noticed Percy slip away. "What's with him?" Nico shrugged.

Leo watched Reyna bit her lip anxiously, his fun façade slipping away with Percy.

**Percy POV**

Percy appeared on the beach for the third time. "Yo fishies, can you get the _lord of the ocean_ for me, thanks," He yelled into the water.

"There is no reason to bother your cousins. I can sense your presence once you set foot on the sand." As usual, Triton materialized behind him.

"Yeah, always nice to visit you too _dear brother_," Percy said. He held up Clary's sketch of Luke's description. "You know what this is?"

Triton face resembled a dead corpse, if gods could look like that. "Where did you –"

"Friends told me all about it. Why is the weapon of a psychotic Norse god in the Greek underworld?"

"I don't know," growled Triton, "I would watch your tone with a god child." In that moment, he looked at lot older, centuries of experience in his eyes. Percy wondered if he did that on purpose to scare him, cause it wasn't working. He narrowed his eyes.

"Well, you see I was trying to protect me whole family and possible the entire Upper East side, so you might want to forgive me for not saying please," Percy shot back.

The two glared at each other, sea winds lashing around them like they were sensing the tension. Finally, to Percy's surprise, Triton backed down.

"I cannot tell you about that scepter. However, you may seek out Thanatos, he is not bound by the same laws as I," said Triton, "And he possibly knows more about your predicament then I."

Percy wasn't looking forward to meet the Soul Reaper, but it actually sounded like a reasonable thing to do. "Well, I don't suppose you have him on SnapChat . . ."

Triton snorted. "We gods do not dwell much on your ridiculous mortal contraptions." Percy thought of Hermes with an Iphone, and Thanatos with the black Ipad of death, but decided not to comment.

"You may desire to find Apollo as well. He can see everything," said Triton.

"You want one of us to fly up into the sky and crash the sun chariot?"

Triton snorted. "That smiling dolt is rotting under Delphi trying to slay the Python. Zeus ordered . . . wait, I already told you this!"

Percy shrugged. "Oh, yeah, I came to collect my favor too."

"Name it."

"I want you to train me," Percy said. Blank reaction.

"If there's going to be war, someone is going to die," continued Percy, "I'm not letting someone pull another Leo again. If someone has to die, I'll do it, but I'm taking all the enemies to hell with me," he said.

Triton laughed coldly. "The things they say about us sons of Poseidon stand true. We will lay down our lives to protect our loved ones; our loyalty surpasses above all others." His smile was proud, and slightly bitter.

Percy gave him a flat stare. "I want to learn every trick there is."

"And avenge your family;" noted Triton, "I can see vengeance lying in your heart. Not many sons of Poseidon have gone down a dark path, thought I wouldn't blame you for your actions."

Percy slipped into emotionless mode.

"Very well, I will grant you request." Triton dissolved away.

Percy stepped in a shadow and disappeared, wondering if he had done the right thing.

**Leo POV**

Leo waved cheerfully at the gaggle of reporters gathered in the room. He felt like Gosling on the red carpet. The flashes blinded him and left spots in the room, but were totally AWESOME.

Nico wore a black mask that covered the bottom of his face, making him look like some teen ninja. He had on black armor and his sword hung by his side. Leo swore he was purposely emitting a danger aura, causing most reporters to hover away from him.

Percy had on a hood that hid his face completely. He wore regular clothes, but had silver armor on. Weird, but no one really cared. Reyna had gone full out. Hair braided to one side and full gold mask. She had on full gold and bronze armor and her purple cape. Her sword was in full view, and she looked every bit like the leader.

Now, of course Leo did say it, but he was proud of his costume. He had _sort of_ copied the costume of Big Hero 6 (the helmet hid his face so Reyna _had_ to approve it), but it was modified to look even cooler. And he had painted it red of course, and the best effect was lighting himself on fire.

The photographers were having a field day, snapping thousands of pictures by the minute. _Yeah, FlareFix is going viral, _Leo thought gleefully. This was fun!

"We are not teenagers, we're all above eighteen," Reyna's voice boomed across the room. As spokesperson for them, she had to talk with the press. Leo could tell she was annoyed, but she was spouting out good lies. The press was eating it all up. Leo bet she wanted Clary (the BFF in his opinion) here, but she couldn't come or she would be categorized with them. Creepy Eye Patch dude was firm on that, and Clary looked iron suit. "I'm totally wearing this for Halloween." He said.

"Kid, you're doing great, just tone down the fire," said Tony. Leo shut down so the flames flickered slightly. "You know they think you're related to Human Torch. I hear Johnny's ticked off."

Leo laughed. "I think I can live with that." He gave a big thumb up to the crowd. Now that he thought of it, Leo really wished he remembered to bring Festus. A dragon ride would totally make an EPIC entrance! Festus was probably mad at him for leaving him in the Bunker, but hibernation is good for animals, at least according to the ancient magic book Hazel got from Hecate.

"FlareFix, how 'bout a close up on the face?" One photographer was giving him a Cheshire cat grin

"Nice try buddy," Leo grinned, "This is all you got, make it work." He let flames shoot up from his hands. Leo liked the attention, but he did it partially for his friends. Almost no one was taking pictures of Nico and Percy, and they looked happy by it. Percy caught Leo looking at him, and gave him an appreciative nod. The people seemed pretty happy to snap away at the most outgoing one. Leo continued doing more tricks and poses, Jason and Piper were so going to chew him out for this.

**Hazel POV**

"What's so interesting?" Hazel asked.

The four of them sat in a plane in Tokyo. In a few weeks, they had completed over fifty assignments, at least according to Maria Hill. She was nice, at least nicer than Fury.

"Its live footage," said Jason. He had a big grin on his face. Piper was shaking her head in exasperation. Hazel peered over the seat and saw Leo juggling fireballs. She rolled her eyes. The video had gone viral on YouStick or YouTube, whatever that website was called.

"Leo must have eaten too much of that Kitty candy again," she muttered. She really wanted to see her friends again and their new guests, especially Bianca, her mysterious older half sister. She felt her stomach lurch and couldn't identify the emotions she was feeling.

"The plane takes off in ten minutes," said Frank. He smiled nervously at her. Hazel couldn't blame him. They were flying back to Greece to track down Apollo, not exactly the vacation she was hoping for.

She slipped on earbuds, the brilliant devices Leo had introduced her to. She felt the music seep into her mind, and drifted off. . .

_Hazel stood in a dark room. Candles lit up a table, where a person sat. _

_"Lady Hecate," Hazel murmured. She knew most of her friends had bad feelings about the gods, she did too, but Hecate had helped her out several times. _

_"My dear Hazel, how are you?"_

_Hazel glared at Gale, who rested under the table. "Good, I assume you need something done?" _

_The goddess turned her eyes to her, mist spilling off her form. "I have a message." _

_Hazel tensed. "A message? I don't understand." _

_"My time is limited before it happens. I am forbidden to speak. But be aware of the challenges ahead. Your world is in danger, you must find –"The goddess stiffened. _

_"Lady Hecate?"_

_Hecate's eyes flashed a brilliant blue. Hazel stepped back warily. She could feel the magic in the room pulsing. She could feel it right under her fingertips, cool and ready to use. _

_"Hazel Levesque, I bring a message," Hecate's voice had turned raspy, like an old lady._

_ Hazel had a quick mental flashback to Juno, the old bag lady goddess. She thought of the stories told by Percy of the Oracle of Delphi. Could goddess be possessed by it too? Hazel gasped, feeling the air snaking around her neck. It tightened, choking her. Hazel felt her vision darken and she tried to fight back with her magic. _

_"Stay away from Delphi," Hecate rasped, "Or vengeance shall be follow tenfold. The dark lord plays his piece, now it is up to you to make the choice. You have been warned." The pressure around her neck stopped. The blue glow disappeared and Hecate immediately collapsed. _

_Hazel touched her throat, but regained her composure easily. Hecate on the other hand, looked like she had been drained of life. _

_"Go," whispered the goddess, "And may Fortuna be with you." _

_The room tumbled away, and Hazel felt herself falling. _

So, what do you guys think? I updated extra early cuz of the great news. RICK RIORDAN IS MAKING A NEW PJ BOOK SERIES (Not magnus chase btw) FEATURING APOLLO AND ALL THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS WILL BE THERE EEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK! I swear I shrieked when I saw this posted. And I saw the YouTube video, full of screaming fangirls when they heard him announce it. Im like super happy right now, so I just had to update my story! Omg i cant even think straight right now. R&amp;R thx!


	20. Chapter 20

**YO PPL! PLZ PAY ATTENTION TO THE HEADING! **

**If you aren't a TMI fan, don't bother reading this chapter unless you really want too. Wait for the actual chpt update on Halloween. **

**If you are, well, read ahead and tell me what you think. Featuring Clary's POV and a special guest . . . Alec Lightwood! **

**Clary POV**

"I think we lost them," shouted Reyna over the noise. Clary nodded and shifted gears. She accelerated off the busy interstate onto the streets. After Reyna had found a tiny lead on tracking down the Greek god of death, she and Clary had sped down to Jersey to investigate the warehouse district. The immortal wasn't there, but a HYDRA black ops team was. Naturally, they decided to give chase when the two of them bolted.

Reyna pulled over in a narrow street. She scanned a 360, before hopping onto the sidewalk. "I go around a look for scouts. I think I saw the red cycle a few cars back." Clary nodded.

"You want me to guard the bikes?"

"Go ahead;" said Reyna, "HYDRA might have a backup team close by. Check the roofs. I know Fury ordered us not to engage them, but you know what to do if they get trigger happy."

Clary smiled humorlessly. "See you in ten." She vaulted onto a dumpster and climbed up to the roofs. Sticking to the shadows, she crept among the rooftops. She had a great view above and below.

Leaping from roof to roof, Clary scanned the area. No threats, unless they were better at surveillance than her. She glanced at her watch. Her telekinesis, she levitated herself back to the motorcycles. A tingly flew down her arm. Her eyes immediately zoned downward.

A shadow was on the ground next to the bikes.

Clary dropped soundlessly onto the roof. She mentally assessed the stranger. Black hair, blue eyes, and muscular structure. There was a bow in his hand and a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. Obviously not a normal person. He had various knives and she could see at least two blades and a glowing stone. He had the tattoos she had. _HYDRA_, she thought immediately, _never thought they replace me so fast_. _But he doesn't look like HYDRA_, her heart argued, _he doesn't have the identification_. Clary decided to depend on the facts.

This stranger had to be a threat. Maybe a top level HYDRA operative like she was. Maybe higher, like part of a team. The boy took out a stick like hers. Clary tensed. No time to wait for Reyna.

She leaped down from the roof. The boy immediately spun around, his eyes widened in shock at the sight of her. Clary telekinetically slammed him into the wall. She ran over silently, sword in hand. Her first strike was blocked by the bow. Good, she had mental calculations on the strength of the bow and his level of training.

"Clary! What in the name of the ang –" His words were cut off by her faster blow. He was definitely HYDRA. Only they knew her name and had the resources to find out her nickname. She drew her wand with her other arm and quickly marked up her arm with tattoos.

Strength, speed and power flowed through her. Grinning at the familiar rush, Clary switched out the wand for her dagger. Flexing her arms, she leaped into her a flurry of slashes and swiped. The deadly tornado technique was one of her favorite lessons.

The boy had swords out, similar to hers. He managed to evade most of her blows, but she could see him weakening. "Damn Clary," he wheezed, "I never knew Jace was that good of a mentor. I owe him an apology." She pressed forward wordlessly.

"If you surrender now, I'll let you live," she said, adopting her emotionless tone, "Or you die."  
The boy widened his eyes.

"Wait, you actually are – SIMON! MAGNUS!" he yelled, a hint of panic in his voice. Clary swiftly slammed her hilt onto his head, knocking him out. Whoever this Simon was, the boy was obviously confident he would be able to help him. Clary held her swords in defensive positions, adopting different angles over few seconds.

"Clary, we have to go," Reyna ran in from a shadow and hopped into her motorcycle. "HYDRA caught up." Clary leaped onto her motorcycle. Caning it to max speed, she tore down the street, startling a grumpy glitter covered boy in glasses.

"Back on interstate?" she yelled to Reyna.

"Small streets, split up," Reyna hollered, "Lose em!"

Clary zigzagged among to streets, curving was hard, but not impossible. She could see her pursuers through the shop windows. Damn, it was the red bike. The rider was extremely hard to shake off. Clary could see the silvery blond leer at her through the helmet. With her pale skin, the blond looked like an undead zombie.

Clary sped around a dumpster and telekinetically threw it behind her. It slammed into the red bike. That should stall three seconds. Clary gave the wheel a telekinetic boost. The winds lashing at her face, she veered into the forest. Sensing out with her mind, she leaned around the trees. She could still hear the roar of the red bike behind her.

Clary rounded the forest in a circle and zoomed straight in to the circle. She levitated her bike up and waited. When the red streak caught the corner of her eyes, she immediately sent massive kinetic waves down at the lines she marked with her bike. Watching the ground and trees collapse into a giant pit, she grinned as she heard the curse words from the blond.

"You might want to check on your partner," she called, "I knocked him out good."

Better luck next time bitch. She flew off to find Reyna.


	21. Chapter 21

**Sup, I finished the 21****th**** chpt, can u believe it? I really hope to wrap up this soon so would love all the critism and feedback I can get. I bet most of u r waiting 4 Trials of Apollo 2 right? The countdown bgins! **

**Leo POV**

"So, why are you hanging with us?" asked Leo. He bounced the tennis ball off the wall for the 1000th time. Tony was updating his latest suit, but Leo could tell he was listening in.

"No reason." Luke said. Leo frowned. For the two days the guy had got out of the infirmary, he had spent the time hiding in the workshop with him and Tony. It was kinda weird, all he did was hover over in a corner and stare at the wall, or toss darts at a dart board.

"So, any plans for Halloween?" Tony asked.

Leo scowled. "Reyna said we couldn't go trick – o –treating. Piper sided with her." Apparently, candy had some bad effect on him . . . girls were always exaggerating everything. "She even said I can't go to the Central Park Spooktacular." He pouted at the wall.

Tony shrugged. "You can always buy candy. Pepper always buys like ten tons of sweets to give out to the kids who come. And I provide the tricking of course." He and Luke shared at evil grin. The two of them had lined the vents with fake sticky spider webs, just for Clint.

Leo sighed. As fun as that sounded, sticking around inside on one of the coolest holidays of the year seemed really mundane. Especially if all the TV specials were lame.

Everyone seemed to be on the same schedule ever since Dead 1 and Dead 2 came back. Speaking of which, he wondered if Nico's sister was awake yet. Nico and Bruce were always in the sick bay, with Bruce worrying if the girl was in coma or something.

Percy was distant and spent most of the day in the water. Reyna kept sparring and training with Natasha and Steve. And the resident artist drew. Yup, just the normal days. Ugh. He really wished he was with Jason and the others. Tracking down Apollo sounds better than sitting around wasting life (since he actually aged now). And they had no clue how to find Thanatos, just grreeaatt.

"Stark, Valdez, conference room. And you can come if you want Blondie."

"Thanks talking vent," grumbled Leo. He was use to Clint creeping around the vents and talking to them. He plugged in ear phones and walked to the elevator, drowning the world's problems in music.

Tony and Luke were making awkward conversation. Leo turned the music higher, drums blasting his ears deaf.

The doors opened to reveal Captain One Eye, great. Everyone was already there, sitting around the table. Reyna motioned for Leo. Glaring half heartily at her, he reluctantly removed the ear buds.

Fury tossed a file onto the table. "Your newest target."

"You want us to terminate him?" Nico's eyes had bags under them, but they sharpened as he scanned the page.

"This is Michael Velucian," said Fury. Clary visibly flinched, casing Reyna and Natasha to glance at her curiously. "He is one of HYDRA's secret solder trainers that we rounded up. Unfortunately, he isn't talking."

"You want us to interrogate him?" Reyna said. She and Steve exchanged a glance.

"That's cool. I know an intel broker in Lower Manhattan, he could tell us what makes your prisoner tick," said Percy. Fury gave him measured look, before his eye swerved back to the file.

"This is the information we have from one of his students, the only source," He glanced pointy at Clary, "he isn't cooperating and resisted all our methods. He is pretty high up on the command chain, so HYDRA is probably looking for ways to eliminate him before we can full get the information we need."

Tony snickered. "What a shock."

"Can I talk to him?" Clary's voice was smaller than usual. The usually emotionless girl looked pretty pale. He tiny fists were clenched tightly.

Fury's face morphed into some expression that quickly disappeared. "I think that can be arranged." It was pretty clear he had been planning that all along.

"How much information do you want?" asked Percy. He stopped. "I mean, to what extend can we _interrogate_ him?" Fury walked out without answering. "Gee, really helpful," muttered Percy.

Nico turned to Clary. "Anything you know that can help us. Maybe this man has a fear?"

"Yeah, maybe he doesn't like _candy _or is afraid of having fun," muttered Leo. Percy elbowed him.

"He is afraid of heights," whispered Clary, "He would jump out of the plane at my skydiving lesson in Budapest." Reyna looked concernedly at her.

"Are you alright? Maybe you don't have to –"

"I'm fine," Clary said. Her voice hardened. "In fact, I have many things I want to ask him."

Ten minutes later, they were on the roof. Bruce had gone downstairs, mumbling about checking up on Nico's sister. He was just too passive. Reyna did summon her dogs though, as substitute lie detectors.

The prisoner guy, Michael, looked really calm. In fact, he looked like he was on vacation, enjoying the view. His brown hair was perfect and clothes were clean. He was smiling, but his pupils were dilated in fear.

"So buddy, any chance you can spit out everything and we can get on with our lives," asked Leo. The guy looked at him, but didn't acknowledge him. Same thing for the last hour. They had tried intimidation, good and bad cop, having him stand on the ledge, etc.

They couldn't do anything, well, hurtful, because Fury needed Mikey unscathed for something. Reyna was whispering encouragingly to Clary behind a wall. Maybe seeing one of his students would make him crack.

"So Mickey, you hungry? Maybe you could spill the beans and we go for some pizza? Or how 'bout tamales, you're Mexican right?" Leo grinned at the guy. "You guys do Día de los Muertos? Of course you do. We don't have that, but I think you can go trick – o – treating."

"Leo, shut up. You can't annoy the answers out of someone," grumbled Percy. "And stop bringing up Halloween, Reyna already said you can't go terrorize kids for candy."

Leo gave Percy an insulted look. "I don't terrorize them; I just turn up the heat –"

"You vill not brekf me." Finally, silent and evil spoke. Hmmm, he had a funny lilting Russian accent, wonder if he was doing on purpose or he was just bad with American accents. He didn't look Russian for the record.

"I will not count on that Velucian," Clary walked quietly up to him. The man's eyes widened.

"Clareessa, the runawah Beta," he snarled, "_You_ are a _traitooorrr_ to us all. I knew you verr diffurent once dey picked you up."

Clary narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, well, I don't mix with murderers, or people who want to dissect me, or people who kidnapped me, experimented on me, wiped my memory, and whole other list of things I forgot because of you!" She held the point of her sword under his chin. "And if you do not cooperate, this will get unpleasant."

The man smiled. "You alvays had fierce rebel spurit, vury American ef you vill. You ver the purfect prototype, the secon enhanced ve had, but vetter. Ve reprogrammed you purfectly." Clary didn't even flinch.

"That half human android had no business being the Alpha. He would have left, just as I. You may have given him metal parts, but you cannot break the human heart," She said softly. Clary smiled. "Now talk or you will regret it."

He gave her the classic bring – it – on face. Clary grunted grimly, before shoving him off the roof.

Steve and Clint immediately leaped forward. "What –"

They could hear him screaming on the way down. Clary stood on the ledge emotionlessly. She held out a hand. The man was levitated back onto the ledge, gasping.

Damn, Leo thought, why didn't I think of that?!

"We can repeat this over and over again," called Clary coldly, "You know what I am capable of. After all, you taught me many things." Leo shivered. He never thought cute little red heads could get so scary.

The man coughed. "What do you want to know?"

Clary narrowed her eyes. She held out a piece of paper and a pen. "A list of all HYDRA operatives you know. We need all your passwords and active projects."

He started writing.

"And I want to know what did you to Ethan?" Percy said.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," the man said.

"Ethan Nakamura, you guys turned him into a half metal liquid thing," Percy.

"Ah, you must mean Operative Delta. We have managed to fuse man with a new metallic composition we call multinetic polyalloy," he said proudly, "A great advancement according to my superiors."

Percy moved so fast all Leo saw was a blur. His hand slammed the bad guy into a wall. "Are you telling me you turned one of my friends half metal," he growled, "and you're happy about it?" Behind Percy, Luke looked really angry too. Leo wondered if he should remind them that Ethan tried to kill them a few days ago.

"We rescued him. He was pale and looked half dead; at least he looked like that in the pictures before the augmentation." The man stuttered, probably feeling the rise of anger around Percy. Leo swore the air was trying to turn red.

Percy released his grip, breathing levelly. The man collapsed, his face bright red.

"We know all about your Percy Jackson," He wheezed out, "Your world is about to crumble into oblivion."

"He reminds me of Octavian," remarked Nico.

"Nah, Octagon was a pathetic blond scarecrow, this guy looks like the classic evil henchman." sneered Leo.

"Explain the augmentation," said Percy.

"Yeah," chimed in Clary, "I know you people did that to me too. Don't you _dare_ deny it!"

The man hesitated. "You know, I haven't seen tennis in a while. Percy and Clary could hit you back and forth above the skyscrapers like a tennis ball," Leo suggested.

"Project SANA or Special Advanced Human Augmentation was created back in the 1900s. They were trying to create the perfectly enhanced human. At time, there were many attempts, like the Super Soldier serum created by Abraham Erskine or the Red room procedures. Today, we have more advanced methods. Carissa was the second enhanced we created, that survived her augmentation trial without visible physical or mental defects. Once we perfected her, we tried other formulations, like the one we used in Ethan."

"I always knew you were making a super army," said Clint, "just didn't think you guys would use kids." He shook his head.

The man smiled humorlessly. "Children can be molded easier."

"But why did you try to dissect Clary," Percy said, "I don't get it."

"We captured – found Clarissa on the streets. She had a special type of blood we hadn't encountered before. Doctor Strucker immediately ordered we try Trial II on her. When that succeeded, we trained her like we planned. However, Doctor Strucker thought the implant could be improved, so we were ordered for surgery."

"You mean dissection," corrected Leo. The man snarled at him.

"Wait, you implanted something in her?" interrupted Tony.

"The neuron chip," Clary yelped, her hand flying to the back of her head.

"Ah yes, you are injected with millions of genetically modified neurons, all connected to a neuron chip implant. It is the source of your abilities."

"You mean my telekinesis, healing, and the tattooing thing," whispered Clary. She pulled up her sleeves and stared at her arms. Leo now understood why she never wore short sleeves. Her arms were littered with silver tattoo symbols.

"Actually, you came to us with those powers. When we found you, you had the ability to draw symbols that did amazing things, and you had unusual weapons on you. Of course they were studied, but nothing was discovered, except only you could bear those marks.

You attained telekinetic and telepathic abilities –"

"She can read our minds?!" yelped Tony. He glared at Clary accusingly. "That was never mentioned."

"Yes it was Tony," said Natasha, "She just never demonstrated it."

"Because she cannot read minds. That technology has not been perfected yet. Clarissa can delete minds. Yes, dear, we never attempted any memory wipes on you. You did that purely on your own." The man smiled serenely.

"I didn't do anything," Clary said. She looked pale, like paler than Nico.

"We couldn't stop it. It was hard to control and train you to use it, as it was at an experimentary stage. It was one of the reasons we injected you with depressants. Emotions seemed to spike up the flares, so we had to suppress them. Not a big loss, we wanted you to be mentally invincible anyway."

"No," Clary murmured. Reyna gave Percy and look. He muttered something to Luke, who led Clary back inside.

"Alright, continue writing your list while we ask a few more questions," said Percy. Leo looked at the paper. The list was pretty long. He scanned some of the names, most were of strangers, though some looked really familiar. Was that fourteenth name his accountant?!

"Where is the HYDRA base where all these experiments are taking place?" demanded Clint.

He shrugged. "I am a cognitive training specialist. I only know the base where I worked at, which was captured by SHIELD. The other base was blown up by Beta."

His eyes flickered, was that a lie? Damn, Leo wished Frank was here. He was like a human lie detector.

"When you said Clary was the Beta, and Ethan was the Delta, who is Gamma and Alpha then?" Percy persisted. Steve coughed uncomfortably.

The man shrugged.

"Ok, what about Loki's spear. Yes, we know about it. You stole it out of SHIELD custody, so where is it?" Reyna said, hiding the fact that they have seen it.

The man shrugged again. "Strucker made a deal with someone. The spear was loaned out for the two new subjects, one of them Nakamura. Something about them being special, because well, they were demigods. Yes, we were aware of the Greek world, the basics anyway."

"Yeah, not surprising, considering SHIELD's horrible firewalls," muttered Reyna.

"Who was the spear loaned out too?" asked Percy.

The man smiled, but he was looking behind them. "Hail HYDRA." An arrow embedded itself into his heart. Leo froze, before leaping down.

He glanced behind them, to see the shadows of two figures zipping like Spiderman. Except they were swinging with grappling hooks. At a really fast speed. Like pros.

"One of them is Ethan," said Percy, squinting, "the suns glinting off the metal. I think the other is a girl with a silver ponytail, though guys wear ponytails too, so not really sure. Dang, they're gone." Reyna and Clary cursed.

"I bet the other was enhanced too," said Nico. He and Reyna casted grim looks at the skyline.

"Well, we need to find them," said Leo, staring at the dead body with an arrow through the heart. It had a note attached:

_Happy Halloween demigods. Who would like to die first? _

Leo shuddered It was so clique, it was scary. "Fury's going to kill us. Can this day get any better?" He asked sarcastically.

JARVIS's voice crackled into existence. "Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner has told me to inform you Bianca di Angelo has woken."

**So, I know the story timing is kind of confusing. I confused about it myself. All I know is that the whole story takes place after the avengers 1****st**** movie, and iron man two, but before TtDW and TWS (though some parts are a little more confusing since I overlooked a few things). I am considering redoing this story after I'm done, but not real sure. Anyway, Happy Halloween! **


	22. Chapter 22

**Happy Thanksgiving! I'm so thankful to all my reviewers and viewers for their time and patience with this story. Hope you guys have a happy holiday and enjoy your break! Eat a bunch of food for me! XD**

**Also: I'm looking for a beta. Any recommendations?**

**Percy POV**

"Where am I?" The words rasped out of her, the mere effort weakening her. Bianca's eyes fluttered, struggling to keep open.

"You're safe," said Luke. He adverted his gaze when Nico glared at him.

Nico helped his sister sit up. He held a cup of nectar to her lips, watching her drink with worried eyes.

"Nico," she whispered, "I'm sorry."

"You should rest Bianca," he said quietly.

"No," she cleared her throat, "I'm fine." She straightened. "Nico, we have to help our Father. I fear the Underworld is no longer under his control."

"Does she always talk like that?" whispered Leo. Percy elbowed him.

"Yeah, we know. Bianca, maybe you should lie back down. You just woke up –"

Bianca glared at him. "I'm not just going to sit here and wait the world to righten itself, Nico. The Underworld is in peril. You all know that, don't you?" She swept her gaze at all of them. "Our friends are in danger."

"Bianca, we know," said Nico gently, "our resources are tracking down leads right now."

Bianca slumped. Nico quickly adjusted her back to a sleeping position. "Find Thanatos," she murmured, "Solve problems. Music, dark place, shadows, midnight. . . "

"Shhhhhh," Nico said quietly. Percy had never seen his friend more tender.

"Nico, I'm dreaming. Did I just see Captain America?"

Leo fell over giggling. Nico laughed gently. "Yeah, maybe when you feel better, we'll talk about it." Her eyes closed.

They went out the door quietly, leaving Bruce inside to do checkups.

As soon as they filled into the kitchen, Tony burst up with questions. "How did you sister know Captain America?" He glanced at Cap. "I mean, no offense or anything, but isn't Iron Man more popular these days? You know what, never mind, you all didn't know about the Avengers the first time, heck, she probably lived among wolves or something." Reyna frowned.

Natasha of all people wacked Tony on the head.

"I guess Leo didn't tell you guys huh," Nico smiled sardonically. "Me and my sister are from the 40s." (**Sorry if that time's wrong)**

Steve stumbled. "What?!"

"That explains so much," muttered Tony. They all glared at him. "What?" he said defensively, "Haven't you noticed almost all the old people here are dark and moody, and they all seem to hate me. Wait . . . is that Piper girl from the 40s too?"

"No," said Nico looking darkly amused,"but me and my sister were around at your time." He looked intently at Steve. "She was a big fan of yours. We went to one of your shows, but you never showed up. She got over the fan phase, eventually."

Steve blushed. "Ahh . . ."

"I not blaming you or anything," Nico said quickly, "just thought you guys should know. I'd appreciate it if you don't tease her about it."

"Wait, _shows?_" Tony asked.

"Shut up Tony," muttered Steve, turning redder by the minute. Clint and Leo snickered.

Tony cackled gleefully. "Today is the best day of my life . . . well, one of them," he amended.

"Bianca said some words about Thanatos. Music, dark places," Percy said, changing the subject. Reyna was already on a computer.

"Sounds like a celebration," commented Leo. "Halloween's tonight, who's ready to crash a party?" He smiled. _Sounds more like a funeral_, thought Percy.

"Perhaps Thanatos would mingle among mortals," Reyna muttered, "He cannot return to the Underworld and Olympus is closed. His death abilities would leave traces of energy so he cannot use those either. I don't understand what he would be doing at a party though. Or why your sister knows that." She looked at Nico.

"Thanatos does like parties," Nico said, "Way too much, father always complains about that . . . and Charon's insistence on a pay raise."

Tony snorted. "Gods are among the weirdest people on this planet."

"I wouldn't insult the god of death," Nico warns. Tony rolls his eyes.

"Do you think this could be the place," Reyna asked. She pulled up a page. "There's three more, but this one stands out."

"The Pandemonium Nightclub?" Nico read doubtfully.

"Read the events list," Reyna said, "The picture."

"Someone's throwing a party with a dead theme," continued Nico, "Free food, nine to midnight, and a band called Demon Hunters, and a _blood sacrifice ceremony_? What in Hades?" He made a face.

"The last part is written in Greek," said Reyna. "And there are Greek inscriptions all over the walls, heavily Misted. They look like the spell that disables shadow travel. Might lower options for escape."

"Ok, we're crashing a dead ceremony," Leo jumped out, "Let's go."

"No," Reyna said, "We can't just charge in."

"Reyna's right," said Percy thoughtfully, "Thanatos might run for it if he senses us. We'll need mortals to mask our aura. I'll call Hazel, I'm sure she can find a spell."

"Right, she must have a spell book and a wand to go with it, not to mention her broomstick" Tony said, "does she wear her witch hat on special occasions only?"

"Shut up Stark," Nico growled. Percy tensed as well; Hazel was sensitive about being called a witch, preferring the term sorceress.

"Nico should go, he knows Thanatos more than any of us. Percy met him before, so he should go. Clary, you can infiltrate the band, be backup. Natasha and Steve would have a better chance for passing off as teenagers; it's a young adult club," Reyna assessed, "Maybe all of you should change."

Clary immediately jumped to follow her orders. Surprisingly, she tugged Bruce along with her, whispering something urgently.

Leo frowned. "Wait a –"

"The rest of us can visit the other places, if the Pandemonium turns up clean. Leo, come with me," Reyna said. She snapped up the laptop and strolls off.

"She reminds me more of Annabeth every day," Leo murmured, abruptly stopping his sentence. He glances at Percy, and then quickly scampers off with Reyna.

"What can I do?" Luke asked in a tight voice.

"Stay here and don't kill anything Castellan," Nico replied darkly. He stalked off, deadly auras churning. Percy gave Luke an apologetic look.

"Come on Steve, let me and Nico show you how to do the disguises," Percy sighed. He nodded at Natasha, acknowledging she has experience with this espionage technique; and escorted Steve in Nico's direction.

Percy assesses the club from across the street. "I can see three exits, not counting windows," he said.

"Won't matter, he is a god. They have more tricks than our minds can handle." Nico said. "Steve, stop squirming." Steve stops moving. He and Natasha could pass off as 18 year olds, if the Mist and Hazel's spell held up. Just in case, they had changed their hair colors and placed contacts on, in case there were fans inside.

"Back door, come on," Percy said. Vapor travel would waste energy. He would need all the strength he had incase it came down to a fight/capture.

They cross the street and slipped in through the door. Percy heated up his hand and melted the handle. No one would be using this exit today.

They split up. Nico and Steve went left, as he and Natasha went right. It was heavily crowded. Lights flashed and misc blared out loud. Percy met eyes with Clary, who was on the drums, her hair dyed black with blue contacts. She nodded subtly at him, jerking her head to the back.

Percy glanced at Natasha, gesturing at the back. They moved through the crowd. Percy could sense the shadows pulling together. Nico had seen them move. He and Steve were mirroring their movements from across the room.

Percy ignored the curious stares. The people here all had glazed eyes, from the drinks and sound. His face will just fade away with the rest of the crowd. He continued to the back, where the private rooms were.

He brushed by a girl, who stumbled. She gave him a shocked look. Percy narrowed his eyes and willed the Mist to clear her mind. She stepped on her way drowsily.

"Guard the door," Percy whispered. Natasha slipped off causally, keeping in range of the door, but merging with the crowd. Nico slid up silently. Percy followed his gaze to see Steve hidden in the shadows, looking slightly bewildered. He met their eye and nodded.

"He's inside," Nico said lowly. Percy turned the knob, letting Nico slip inside. He melted the knob as he went in, gripping Riptide in the other hand.

"Is destroying doors common among demigods these days?" Percy turned to face the death god. Thanatos was dressed like a gothic man, like an older version of Nico. He lounged behind a desk, a familiar black Ipad hand.

"You're throwing a blood ritual party and you're concerned about the doors?" Percy said tightly.

Thanatos waved a hand nonchalantly. "Merely a joke, don't want any monsters coming here, not that it's a problem. They despise blood ceremonies. Are the two mortals by the door with you?"

"Shadow travel wards?" Percy panned out.

"I have enemies hunting me," Thanatos said, "though you probably know that. You came to find answers."

"And we won't leave until you provide some," Percy said, "Someone told us you could give us what we needed."

"Ah," Thanatos straightened, "Your brother sent you. Knew it was a matter of time something like this happened. You know, Apollo warned Zeus about this, but he dismissed the idea. Arrogant fool, even I knew this would happen. Hades would believe –"

"What happened?" Percy interrupted. Zeus being big headed was old news.

"Why, the Soul stone is being hunted," Thanatos exclaimed. He tapped something on his Ipad.

"Soul stone?" Percy echoed.

"One of the six Infinity stones, objects of immense power created by entities too old to be remembered. Each contains a shred of chaotic energy. The stones were separated around the universe. They contain unimaginable power, which come with a curse. Almost all bearers turn evil and wreck havoc. Especially the Soul stone, it manipulates souls to the bearer's will, who are usually the cruelest among the living. When we obtained the Soul stone, Zeus immediately ordered it to be guarded. He gave to Hades, who hid it from the world." He said it like he was reciting it from memory, or reading off that damn tablet.

"And now someone wants it," Percy concluded.

"Alcyoneus," said Thanatos gravely.

"What? No way. We killed all the giants," Percy said. Nico nodded.

"Well, he escaped as his brothers were slaughtered. Who do you think organized the final attack after Gaea fell? Who do you believe poisoned the gods?"

"Gods damn the (insert choice of swear words)." Percy swore in every language he could think of.

"Thanatos bid his time after most of the demigods were wiped out. He had managed to obtain the Mind Stone, another Infinity Stone, which was supposed to be worlds away from here. With it, he can control the mind of any being, including gods. With its power, he over took the Underworld."

"Any chance of mind control zombies with glowing blue eyes?"

Thanatos nodded. "One of the more common effects."

Percy placed the puzzle together easily. "He has an army of monsters and ghosts, and gods. He probably controls the rebellious ones closely. Once he is strong enough, he can take on Olympus."

"The Soul stone can place souls back into their mortal bodies," Thanatos hinted, "Though the fool knows little of the total power contained in the stone. He probably seeks to raise an undead army. Foolish when he could do so much more. Though the stones do cloud judgment and rationality. . ."

"Zombies?" Nico said.

"It's a pretty solid plan," Percy said, "A little too smart for a giant."

"The mind stone must be influencing him; feeding his dark personality," Nico said, "There is literally nothing you can't do with the stones.

"It's a good thing I stole it," Thanatos smiles serenely. The deadly calm expression sent chills down Percy's spine.

Thanatos pure black eyes turned to Nico. "And I can tell you how to retrieve the stone, for a price."

**Nico POV**

Nico carefully put on a blank face. A deal with death was something along a line of . . . well, death. "What is it?"

_Son of Hades, are you sure you wish to hear the bargain. You may only hear it if you accept._

Nico bit back a curse. Thanatos was mind speaking, not a good sign. His father always did that to him when he was planning to send him somewhere really nasty.

_Hesitant?_

Nico took a deep breath. "Careful Nico," Percy said. He was obviously very aware the next few minutes of conversation were not for his ears.

**_What are the terms? _**He thought.

_Swear on the Styx you will uphold our agreement._

Nico gritted his teeth. **_I swear on the River Styx to uphold my side of the deal I make with you as long as you give me the exact location of the Soul stone and directions to get there and answer all my questions about it. _**A familiar rumble of thunder rocked his ears.

_You are not to tell another soul about our agreement. You are to become my champion and will accompany me when the gods retreat from the mortal realm. You will do as I instruct for the rest of your life, and when I fade, you will take my place as the god of death and perform the duties required of the position. You are to obey my every will above all others. You are now my apprentice. I own your mind and soul. You will serve me to your very last breathe, or until my last one is taken._

Nico stumbled back in shock. He was kind of expecting the slave thing, but the _apprentice_?! It sounded like an honor, but Nico seriously felt like he had just sold his soul to the devil. He felt like blood was being drained from him, a shudder ran down his spine.

"What did you do?" Percy demanded. The angry aura was emitting from him.

_Stop him._

"It's fine Percy." It felt like the words were being lurched out of him. Percy cast a suspicious look at Thanatos, but the aura lessened.

**_I still have time here though. The gods aren't going anytime soon. _**Nico thought insistently.

_Indeed. _

**_Fulfill the deal. Tell me where the stone is._**

_You will find the stone under the city of Delphi. It hangs around the neck of the Python, Apollo's ancient enemy, encased in an impenetrable Amaranthine crystal. Only one born from the sea will be able to touch the crystal. I will guide you through the catacombs where the Python lurks. In fact, your friends are roaming the grounds now._

**_Does this mean you'll be able to mentally talk to me? _**Nico thought gingerly.

_Of course._

**_Great,_** Nico thought grumpily. **_Hmm, what did you do today Nico? Well, I woke up, interrogated a terrorist, saw my dead sister wake from a coma, practically sold my soul to the devil, and gained a new annoying voice in my head. _**

_How offensive. _

**_Grrr,_** Nico swore violently.

_Such language. Perhaps first I shall order you to learn how to speak properly._

Nico glared vehemently at Thanatos.

_I'm afraid your friends are getting rather impatient. Run along, now. _

Nico's mind buzzed. Should he ask about Bi – nope, probably for the best.

"Nico?" Percy was getting nervous.

"Let's go," Nico stood abruptly.

_One last warning my young champion. The stone is cursed by the gods, only the children of Hades will be able to use it. _Nico cringed. _Yes, quite a predicament you have on your hands. Such a pity your mortal lives may not survive this last battle. Yes, go now, and next time, don't consort with Nephilim scum. I hate angels._

Nico slammed the door behind him, already regretting his choice.

**Unknown POV**

"Master, I have reason to believe the demigods have located Thanatos," the girl reported, "Our troops are ready to seize him as soon as you give the order." Her black HYDRA uniform gleamed under her cloak. Behind her, a boy stood half hidden in the shadows.

"_No_," The girl cowered from the sudden burst of blue light. The staff was beautiful, radiating the pretty blue light. She fought the urge to kneel down. Gasping, she felt her mind split into a headache.

The boy hissed, stepping forward. "No Ethan," she whispered, "Stay back. You don't need to get into anymore trouble." He scowled. The blue light glowed brighter. The girl watched as Ethan fell back, his eyes glazed. His face composed back to an emotionless facade.

"_Demigods_," her master hissed, "_So rebellious_." The girl felt her mind wane. Fog clouded her vision before clearing.

"_How do you feel?"_ Her master asked. The girl straightened.

"I do not feel master."

_"Who is the enemy?"_

"We must destroy the demigods and gods. All will serve under your rule." She recited. "At the end, all our allies will bow before us or be destroyed."

_"Excellent Gamma. Let the demigods continue their antics; you know what to do when they succeed. Remember to trust your mind."_

She bowed, her eyes blaring in bright blue. "I will send the scouts out. We will inform you when they find the stone."

Alcyoneus smiled. "Go."


	23. Chapter 23

Sorry for the short chapter. I just temporarily lost inspiration for this story, found a lot of new books and fandoms. Latest obsession: Throne of Glass series. But I forced myself to write this, pardon my horrible ooc plz. Hopefully you enjoy!

**Reyna POV**

For someone who recently came back from the dead, Bianca di Angelo seemed to know exactly what was going on. Within hours of waking, she had shed her weak form. Nico's sister looked alive and very determined. Sitting elegantly on her seat, Bianca stared intently out the window at the ocean.

Leo and Stark have a jet running within an hour after Nico and Percy came back, with Nico insisting on heading to Greece. Bianca had insisted on going with them, despite Nico's heavy objections.

Now, everyone but Clary and Bruce was 2000 miles above the ocean, and very annoyed. Plane rides were especially aggravating with hyperactive teens on board, mainly Leo. Reyna had just dumped him with Clint, before hastily moving away. Even Percy hadn't last two hours, before escaping onto the roof with Luke. She could hear swords clashing faintly above her.

"Reyna, can we talk?" Nico's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Sure." Reyna carefully scrutinized her friend. She had known Nico long enough that something was wrong. His eyes had become wearier, and one time, she had caught him mumbling to himself.

"So, once we go underground, I will find Hazel, before entering the catacombs. We can guide us to the Python. I should be able to sense her aura that close."

Reyna cringed. They hadn't heard from all four in days. A little worrying, but Nico said they would be in Delphi.

"Then Percy can break the crystal. And we all leave." Nico finished.

"About that, I understand that only a child of Neptune can touch it, but isn't that safer that letting Alcyoneus get his hands on it?"

Nico shook his head. "Bianca told me that Alcyoneus had sons of Poseidon on his side as well. Even though they are dead, they might be able to touch the crystal. It's risky, so it's better if we break it so all of us can handle it."

Reyna nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll tell Percy once he's done sparring with Luke."

Nico nodded mutely. Reyna searched his face. The shadows under his eyes had grown and his hands were pale. His eyes were a darker shade.

"Nico, something has been off with you since Bianca woke," Reyna said, "You didn't fully report on your meeting with Thanatos. And you've been hiding in the shadows more often than usual."

"I'm fine," Nico snapped, "Why don't you think about SHIELD instead." He gestured at her uniform. "I know you thinking about becoming a SHIELD agent like Romanoff and Barton."

Reyna recoiled. "What –"

Nico back away. "Sorry," he murmured, "It's just . . . a lot to take in. Only me, Bianca, or Hazel can use the cursed stone; Bianca alive again when father told me she had gone for reborn; the gods. . ." Slipping away, he whispered, "I just need some time alone."

Reyna watched as he disappeared, feeling like a gap was opening in their friendship.

**Hazel POV**

"I think we go this way," Frank said. He gave her desperate look.

"I think it's stable," she whispered. They had been wandering around for what seemed like days. Shadow travel seemed like it was being warded off, though she couldn't tell from the walls. Wishing she hadn't left Hecate's spell book in Bunker Nine, Hazel followed Frank along.

"I have to talk to Leo," grumbled Frank, banging his phone on the wall. "I thought he said reception anywhere on the planet." Hazel smirked. She didn't know much about modern tech, and at times like these, it made her glad.

"Found a light," Jason called from somewhere.

Frank turned quickly. "Thank the gods." He muttered.

Hazel reached out through the mist. These tunnels radiated enchantment so much it felt like she was suffocating. Jason and Piper had taken a different path, now it seemed like there was a wall between them.

"Break down the wall?" yelled Jason.

Hazel hesitated. "Can you use the wind to make a support? The tunnels will collapse if we disrupt the foundation." Assuming there was wind down there.

"Ok, on three?" Hazel glanced at Frank. He readied himself, his fist tightening around a gladius. Hazel drew her spatha. "NOW!" yelled Jason.

Hazel charged at the wall. _Break_, she insisted. The mist wavered. Her spatha slammed into the wall, creating a rumble like the wall was shuddering. Frank's sword joined hers a second later. The force slammed into her; Hazel slid back, pushing off the wall behind her. Her hand throbbed in pain.

She could sense the tunnel shaking, like it was complaining about being bashed repeatedly by ancient Greek and Roman metals. Hazel could hear pounds through the wall as Piper and Jason started attacking the wall as well.

The tunnels shook belligerently. Hazel launched herself at the wall again, ignoring the pain in her wrist. She crashed through, landing onto the ground in a heap. Hazel coughed, her throat filled with dust.

"_Hazel_!" Frank yelled. Hazel forced her arms to push her up. Frank caught her gently, putting her on her feet.

"Fine," she muttered. She managed a weak smile.

"Ambrosia?" offered Piper. She was digging through her backpack, "Nectar or unicorn draught?"

"Really, its fine," Hazel said firmly, "we should go before the tunnels decide to collapse on us."

"Hazel's right," agreed Jason, "I can't really hold up the tunnels." He gave her an appraising look. Hazel glanced down the tunnel. Yup, there was a light at the end, some faint illumination. She reached out. The tunnel would continue for 10 meters, and then open up.

"It's some kind of cavern ahead," she said.

"Trap?" asked Jason. He stared down the tunnel, assessing possibilities.

"I don't know," Hazel sighed.

"It feels like its calling me," said Frank softly. He walked forward, as if in a trance.

Hazel exchanged glances with Piper. Following Frank, she kept a tight grip on her spatha. Piper and Jason's footsteps rang behind her. Hazel concentrated and wrapped some Mist around all of them. _Just in case,_ she thought.

The tunnel opened up to a vast cavern. Grey stone stalactites hung from the high ceiling. Around them, giant stalagmites protruded from the ground. Light shone down from small cracks above them, reflecting off small glittery stones on the floor.

"Frank?" Jason called nervously. He and Piper drew swords. Hazel felt a trickle of doubt flutter down her spine. The cavern had plenty of hiding places and she could see multiple openings. She knew Piper and Jason were comparing the similarities of the cavern to the one under Epirus like she was.

Frank ignored them, walking even faster. Hazel started into a jog. "Hazel," Piper called after her. Hazel gestured for them to follow over her shoulder.

"_YO_!" The shout echoed around them. Hazel skidded into a stop. She scanned around her. "_A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE NICE! YOU WOULDN"T LEAVE AN AMAZING GOD DOWN HERE WOULD YOU?" _

Hazel had a pretty good hunch who that was. Piper and Jason ran with her, keeping Frank in sight. Now this explained his weird behavior. A glowing figure came into view, with Frank in front of him.

"Demigods!" said Apollo with a brilliant grin.

Hazel resisted the urge to groan. Apollo beamed at them. "I see you been hanging out with the same people Frank." He rattled his chained hands. "Do you think you have a saw or something?"

"What are you doing here?" Jason blurted out.

Apollo shrugged. "Father's punishment. I was tasked with slaying the Python. Sounded easy right?" He slumped. "I thought so too, until he said I had to do it in my demigod form. You think he would be more lenient since I did help Valdez with his plan."

Hazel felt a burst of anger, and guilt. She could see Piper and Jason mirroring similar expressions.

"So, do you mind?" Apollo gestured at the chains. "It feels like I've been down here for millennia. It hasn't been a millennia right?" He looked slightly panicked. "I must have missed all the new music."

Frank growled. "Were you mind controlling me?" Hazel felt a pang of relief. His mind seemed cleared now.

Apollo looked hurt. "How could you think that of me? I just reached out through our bond and urged you to find me. It's more of . . . ah . . . a tiny influence of your actions. Besides, you wouldn't leave your favorite god chained down here forever would you?" Frank scowled.

"Considering it," muttered Piper.

"Wait," whined Apollo. He actually looked like a bratty teenager with the face he was making. "I'll make you a deal, if you kill the chains."

"A deal?" Frank raised an eyebrow.

"It will benefit you," Apollo insisted. "Besides, if you free me, what harm could it do? I'll even throw in free haiku."

"No, no haiku necessary," said Piper quickly. Frank and Jason began hacking at the chains. A few minutes later, Apollo jumped up.

"Wow, it feels great to move again," he said.

"Our deal?"

"Right, follow me," Apollo strolled off in one direction. "I'd like to point out I honored our deal even though I never swore on the Styx." They shrugged. "Hmm, an ungrateful bunch you are."

Apollo led the over to an opening. He reached in and pulled out a bow and quiver of arrows, which he slung over his shoulder.

"You path to follow is above us," he said, examining his weapons. Hazel noticed a passage way about ten feet above them. "Once you reach the end, you will find your friends."

He tossed Frank an arrow. "Use this to kill the Python. A shot though the head should do."

Frank fumbled with the arrow. "I use this?" The arrow looked brittle and old.

Apollo nodded. "Don't you trust me?" Frank nodded hesitantly.

"There will be many more hardships in your future. This cavern is part of a labyrinth long forgotten by mortals."

"Where are you going?" Jason asked. "Don't you have to fulfill your task?"

Apollo shrugged. "Zeus never said _I _had to pull the killing shot. I have full confidence my champion will do my work for me." Frank frowned. Apollo gave him an apologetic look. "Besides, I think father will gladly restore me to full power in his current condition."

He clapped Frank on the shoulder. "Don't die."

"Any more _helpful_ advice?" Frank muttered sarcastically.

"Be careful who you trust. Tell the son of Hades despite what Thanatos says, none of you may physically wield the stone. Even if you somehow don't get internally combusted by the energy, the darkness will overwhelm you, unless you obtain Hecate's aid."

Apollo waved cheerily. "Good luck. I prefer if you don't die." He slipped into the tunnel and disappeared into the darkness.


	24. Chapter 24

**Yeah, I know, shame on me for the very late update. Instead of listening to the long list of excuses I have, here is your chapter. R&amp;R thx!**

** ~special thx to _ItsAlexO_ for the all the suggestions!**

**Percy POV**

"I don't like this," muttered Percy. There was literally no water anywhere. It felt like the walls were choking him. "We should be down here without Hazel."

"Hate to break it to you, but if the space gets any smaller, I will have to blast the tunnels to make them bigger," said Tony. Percy couldn't help but agree. The tunnels did seem to get smaller with every turn. They might run out of air.

"No one is blasting anything," sighed Reyna from the front, "just keep your guard up."

Percy shined his phone around. Leo's phone had a light feature. Attached to forearm guards, they made great flashlights. Percy forced himself to relax. If an ambush happened, he needed to be ready. Not that there was a great angle to make a surprise attack with their current position.

"Heads up, big gap in the floor," called Reyna.

"We need to jump down," muttered Nico. Percy could sense his cousin's bleak mood behind him. Ever since Bianca showed up, Nico was closing up again. He seemed haunted most of the time, like he was losing his mind.

Percy had plenty of experience with that.

"You feel alright Nico?"

"I'm fine," he snapped. He winced. "Just let me think," he whispered.

Percy backed off. Looking around, he realized only he and Nico hadn't jumped.

"Percy? Nico?" Reyna's voice sounded at least ten feet below. Percy leaped into the darkness without a second thought. He flipped in midair and landed lightly.

"What have we got?"

"A giant room full of rock."

"That's a helpful description," muttered Tony.

"You must be rubbing off on me," Reyna shot back. Tony gave her a half-hearted glare.

"Everyone focus," Steve gave Percy a half exasperated look. "What do we do?"

Percy didn't like that Steve pushed him into the leader position. Thankfully, Reyna stepped in. "Spread out a search for the crystal," she instructed, "I prefer you don't break anything but we are on a time limit."

Everyone immediately fanned out. Percy knocked on the walls, searching for a hollow sound. He couldn't sense anything, which was weird since the crystal protecting the stone was supposed to be sea related and stuff.

"Bingo!" yelled Leo. Percy immediately vapored traveled to his side.

"Did you find something useful?"

"I'm hurt you even doubted me," Leo said feigning hurt, "I found a door, very useful, you know. It can open to new rooms, decorate a house, be used to hit someone on the head . . ."

"Can you open it," interrupted Natasha.

"Ah . . .no." Leo smiled sheepishly.

Reyna scanned her flashlight over the door. "It looks like some form of puzzle."

"Who's the fastest with puzzles?" asked Leo.

"Me, the genius billionaire who can build anything," said Tony, sauntering forward, "I bet I have a higher IQ than all of you combined." Bianca scowled at him.

Tony inspected the door. Two minutes later, Clint asked, "Are you going to start?"

Tony turned to Reyna. "I don't see how you got puzzle out of this?" Everyone groaned.

"It has jumbled Latin inscriptions on it," explained Reyna, "I believe we have to piece together the phrase to open the door."

"Well, I don't speak Latin," Tony huffed.

"Can't you just shadow jump us in?" asked Steve. Reyna shook her head.

"I already tried. I believe solving the door is the only way in, like a test to see who is worthy of taking the stone."

"Sounds like Thor speak," muttered Tony, "are you sure a repulser beam won't break the door?"

"I know some Latin," said Natasha, ignoring Tony, "But I can't make sense of this."

"It's a very old form of Latin," said Leo, "thats why our phones and JARVIS can't translate it. Guess it's up to you Reyna." He grinned.

Reyna studied the door intensely. Percy couldn't help but flashback to Annabeth. She use to have that look too. The flashbacks and nightmares of her had returned a few weeks ago. He did his best to hide it, but he practically lived with all spies.

_~Flashback~_

_"Percy, save me!" Annabeth's cries echoed through the room. Percy banged and kicked at the walls, but nothing happened. He tried to summon water, fire, anything, but nothing happened. _

_The room was an unbreakable box. "PERCY!" The pain that stabbed his heart was worse than anything imaginable. Percy slammed into the walls, running and tearing with his hands. _

_"STOP!" He yelled. Percy collapsed and curled up into a ball. "Please stop," he whimpered, covering his ears. The cries and shrieks continued, haunting his head and tearing at his chest. _

_"Anna-" He couldn't even finish his gasp. "AHHH," he yelled in frustration and agony. He bang his head against the wall until stars popped into vision.'Yes', he thought, 'pain'. He continued bashing his head against the wall until unconsciousness overcame him._

_Percy's eyes snapped open. He was falling. Next the Avengers tower. Percy felt the wind lash at his face, the ground rushing up to meet him. Was this real?_

_He pinched himself. Grabbed a knife and drew a small cut on his arm. Blood, yep, this is probably real. Dang, he must have been sleepwalking, or sleep — skydiving in this case. Percy blew out a deep breathe, pushing away the nightmare and Annabeth. 'Compartmentalize,' he instructed himself. _

_Percy dissolved into sea mist, vapor traveling away from his nightmare and the past. _

_~Flashback end~_

"Percy . . . come back to earth . . . water boy . . . snap out of it, do I need to slap you?" Percy focused on the sound of Leo's hands clapping in his face.

"Stop that," he said.

"Welcome back to earth Aqua man, where'd you go, Pluto?" Percy could feel Leo's eyes squinting at his carefully.

He masked his face. "Just thinking about how to open the door," he lied.

"Uh huh," said Leo, unconvinced, "Reyna already got it open."

"Right," Percy said, "after you." Leo shot him a suspicious look before going in.

Percy stared at the open doorway. Eerie green light spilled out illuminating his friends as shadows. Somehow, this felt wrong. 'No,' Percy pushed his doubts away, 'this is the only way, for now'.

So he walked into the light.

Which was a big mistake.

The soul stone was mesmerizing. It was at the tip of a simple golden scepter. Ancient Greek wards were etched into the golden rod and the stone glowed a haunting beautiful green. And the whole thing was floating in the middle of a giant crystalline sphere (that have not been what he expected the Amaranthine crystal to look like, no one mentioned a giant hamster ball thingy) Even ten feet away, Percy could feel the urge to grab it and take the power.

All he had to do was break the crystal shell . . . no. Percy mustered every will he had to steel himself against the temptation. Triton was right, the stone was definitely dangerous.

"Percy, you have to break the ice," Bianca met his gaze urgently.

"I don't know . . ." Percy tried to reason the situation out.

"We came here to take the stone," said Bianca, "Please don't tell me you're backing our _now._"

"But if I break the crystal, won't the ceiling collapse on us?" Percy didn't know what he was doing but he didn't want anywhere near that scepter.

"I'll hold it up, just break it," demanded Bianca.

"Gee, princess, calm down," Leo made a placating gesture.

"Percy, now." Reyna gave him a firm nod.

Percy swallowed. Around him, everyone looked at him expectantly. . .

**Jason POV**

So, the tunnels seemed to go forever.

"Hazel!" Jason and Piper immediately spun around, weapons out.

Hazel was collapsed in a heap on the floor. Her face looked deader than a corpse.

"What happened?" Piper rushed over, inspecting Hazel's pulse and eyes.

Jason held his phone over, shining light down.

"Magic," Hazel gasped, "very strong."

"Is it making you sick?" Piper was already pulling our nectar and ambrosia. Hazel waved it away.

"I just never felt so much power in a very long time," she said. "Hades and Hecate seem to have strong influences here."

Frank helped Hazel up gently.

"Are you sure you feel fine?" he asked, "You look very pale."

"It's amazing," Hazel, her pupils dilated, "can't you feel it."

"Let's move then," decided Jason. He definitely could feel pulses of something around him, and his instincts were telling him to run.

Hazel moved forward, almost gliding down the path. Jason and Frank exchanged looks, before hurrying after her.

"It's calling to me," Hazel murmured. She smiled serenely. The air tingled with magic and power. The waves of aura flowed around them like a river.

"I think she's enchanted," whispered Piper.

"You mean possessed?" muttered Frank.

Hazel broke into a run. "Wait," called Jason, "it could be a trap."

"It is a trap," growled Frank, "Come on!"

They ran after her. The walls eventually took on a green tint, before the air around them turned greener.

Jason could tell this wasn't poison, but his instincts were screaming high danger.

What had they got themselves into?

**Percy POV**

Percy saw the monster before it even raised its head. He brought his sword down in a flash, exploding it in into gold dust.

Then the world shifted. He stood among a million shattered glass pieces. 'What?' he blinked.

"Very dramatic Ariel," Leo said.

Percy registered the scepter hovering right before him. Before he even knew what he was doing, he grabbed it.

The power filled him instantly. It felt like fire seared into his veins and explosions rocked his ribs.

**_Weakling._**

What?

**_Stupid ignorant fool. _**

Percy glanced up at his friends.

"How does it feel Percy?" asked Leo, "Can you raise a zombie?"

"Only emo and his sis can do that remember," Tony said, rolling his eyes, "Us common people can only hold the stick for them."

**_Traitor_**

"Did you hear that?" Percy asked.

"What are you hearing Percy?" Reyna asked cautiously.

Percy could feel the scepter heating up in his hand.

**_Did it hurt to hear her screams? How can you sleep at night knowing you could have saved her? How could you let her die? Poor little demigods, all of you are weak and puny. You are not worthy of me._**

Percy growled. "Stop it," he muttered.

"Percy, you need to let go of the scepter," commanded Reyna.

"I don't answer to you," Percy growled. He felt the air tense.

"Give me the scepter," Bianca said.

"Why should I?" Percy snarled.

"Percy, that scepter is influencing you mind," Reyna said, "I need you to listen to my voice. Only focus on it."

"Give me the scepter," demanded Bianca.

"Princess, you aren't helping," said Leo.

**_Weaklings_**

"SHUT UP!" yelled Percy.

"Give me the scepter," shrieked Bianca, drawing her sword, "or he dies."

Her sword rested next to Nico's neck. Her gaze layered into the scepter.

"Give me the scepter now." Her eyes glowed bright blue. "Or I kill him right now."

The world stilled for a moment. The taunting words faded away as they all stared at Bianca

Three seconds later, all weapons were drawn. "You aren't Bianca, who are you?" asked Nico. He didn't even look fazed by the sword at his throat.

"The scepter," fake Bianca repeated. Percy could see a line of blood begin trickling down the sword.

Percy prepared himself to lunge forward, before a blur of a person rushed before his eyes. Jason hovered in the air, Bianca's sword in hand.

"Hey Jason, nice of you to drop by," said Leo, "did you get the Darkside skittles I asked for."

Nico had immediately spun out of his fake sister's grasp. They all stared at her wary.

"Nico, can you do something about Hazel?" asked Jason. eyes never leaving fake Bianca.

"What!?" Nico looked at Jason. "What do you mean?"

"I think she's gone mad," said Frank. He and Piper appeared out of the shadows with Hazel in tow. She looked delirious.

"Power," she moaned. Her arms waved around, created sparks. Nico immediately held out his hand to her. Vines wrapped around her, completely encasing her. They glowed purple brief, before dissolving. Hazel stumbled.

"Thanks Nico," she muttered, "Piper, can you . . ." Piper summoned a patch of flowers. Waving her hand over them, she drew our the life energies, thin threads of golden light. Percy watched as the flowers withered and disintegrated into ash. Piper slammed the threads into Hazel, who sucked in a breath like she was punched.

"Since when can you do that?" exclaimed Tony. "I must be right about you, you just killed a some innocent daisies!" Piper ignored him.

"I'm good," Hazel said, eyes sharp with clarity. She faced the scene. "What's happening?" she asked, taking in Bianca and them.

"Fake sister, tired to kill Nico," summed up Leo.

"Jason," croaked Percy, his fingers tight on the scepter. Jason levitated the scepter our of his hands, controlling the air around it.

It dropped into Hazel's hands. She blinked, but didn't seem to be affect by it. "Hazel, do not use that thing," warned Reyna.

"JARVIS has analyzed it," said Tony, "it is interesting, that's for sure."

Percy looked at fake Bianca. She looked dazed and serve, despite being surrounded.

"It's 1 to 12," warned Steve, hefting his shield, "surrender."

She merely smiled, like she was waiting for something. Percy tensed.

"She is not alone," boomed a voice, "For we have an army."


	25. Chapter 25

**Who watched CA: Civil War and loved it? Totally me! Here's your chapter readers, enjoy (hopefully) ^ - ^**

**Reyna POV**

An almost familiar man stepped out of the shadows. Dark red hair was artfully tousled on his head, and his skin glowed the color of molten gold. Clad in silver armor that was adorned with way too much jewelry, he looked like a god. Black eyes regarded them calmly, skirting over all of them before settling on the scepter in Hazel's hands.

Three figures stood behind him. Judging from the curve of the armor, two of them were girls and one was a boy. Two were masked, and one girl was cloaked with a hood that hid her face. All of them armed. Reyna gripped her spear. Her dogs materialized next to her.

The flash caught the man's eye. He frowned. "There's no need to get violent Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano." He said her full name almost mockingly.

"Well, guess we finally know your full name," muttered Tony.

"Who are you?" asked Jason, his voice guarded.

"One of Alcyoneus's followers I presume?" Nico was sizing up the man.

"How strange for demigods to always diminish in intelligence every year," said the man.

"You're Alcyoneus," said Percy. He stated it certainly, absolutely positive.

"Indeed Perseus Jackson," he said, "I see your intelligence hasn't waned since we last met." Percy frowned.

"When we met before, you were different."

Alcyoneus chuckled. "I have seen things that changed me Perseus Jackson. When I came back, my brethren was already killed. Gaea had fallen, and yet she left me a path to follow. Well, she did, I simply did not follow it through. Why serve a queen when I can rule as king, over many worlds." He turned his eyes to stare at every one of us. "I have seen true power. And I know I am destined to wield it."

He held out his hand. "Now hand over the scepter." He raised a hand. Around them, monsters and shades appeared out of nowhere, like a curtain hiding them had disappeared. Immediately, Reyna sprung into an attack stance, mentally calculating how all of them would get out of here in one piece. Around her, her friends drew weapons.

"Make us."

Alcyoneus laughed. "Your power is strong. You are correct. But all of you still have human hearts." His smile turned cruel. "And no matter how hard you bury the past, it will come back to haunt you." He gestured behind him.

The figures behind him tensed. The boy removed his mask. Ethan Nakamura stared at them impassively with glowing blue eyes. The girl removed her mask slowly. Reyna felt the ground tremble as the face of Annabeth Chase can into view. Her hair was blond with color, but her face was drained. Her eyes glowed and brilliant blue, no trace of the wise grey in sight.

"Wise Girl?" Percy's choked voice shattered the silence. Reyna snapped to look at him. His face was pale; dread, hope, pain, lingering in his eyes. He had that haunted look her got when memories and flashbacks entered his mind.

Annabeth simply looked on, with an impassive expression. Reyna felt pain as her dead friend assessed them like threats.

"Keep you head together," yelled Natasha. Reyna could feel the other demigods wavering. _Bellona guide me_, she thought. Steeling her mind, she barely registered the last reveal.

Bianca di Angelo can into view. She looked perfectly identical to the one that had betrayed them, except her eyes were the most vibrant blue of all.

Reyna snapped her head to the Bianca that had betrayed them, only to see a lady in a black dress standing in her place. Fire torches were in her hands, and she had blue eyes as well.

"Hecate," gasped Hazel. Nico was looking at the real Bianca, his expression like a corpse.

"Stop!" cried Piper, her charmspeak washing over them. "They are only illusions! Hecate probably has mist everywhere." Reyna mind reeled.

"I swear on the River Styx that Lady Hecate is not using any of her abilities to influence your sight right now. This is all real." Alcyoneus's words cut through the air. Reyna could feel the rumble of thunder and his knowing smile.

Reyna swallowed. Nico and Percy were a mess. Hazel was in no condition to battle. This wasn't good.

Alcyoneus snapped his fingers. "Oh, I almost forgot." Two shades dragged a limp figure forward. Reyna instantly recognized the blond hair of Luke Castellan. They had somehow captured him. One shade leveled a blade under his chin.

He smiled. Reyna growled. He had played them. "I —"

SCREECH! A golden snake head erupted from the floor, rising up. Several of the monsters backed up nervously.

An arrow flew through the air and punctured through the snake's head. The beast wailed, and collapsed on several monsters, killing them under its weight.

Reyna turned to Frank,who lowered his bow grimly. He met her eyes, the message clear. They could still fight. Reyna glanced at her friends. Jason and Piper stood side by side, determined. Hazel and Nico were still disoriented, as was Percy. Steve simply held up his shield. Tony hovered inches above the ground, repulsor beams loaded; Leo by his side was wielding a flaming hammer. Clint had an arrow drawn. Natasha simply inclined her head.

Her mortal friends seemed to understand this was a battle that they could not fight. They still stood strong, they would fight alongside the demigods.

"A mere distraction," said Alcyoneus airily, "it seems like the Great Python was meant to be downed by Apollo's champion after all." He swiveled his head to look at Reyna.

"The scepter now, my patience is growing thin." He held out his hand.

"No," said Reyna. "We keep the scepter." She raised her spear. "We will fight to defend it." A chorus of firm nods followed her words.

"Ah, very well," Alcyoneus sighed, "however, you will not fight."

Reyna blinked. "What?"

"Why fight?" Annabeth's voice cut through the air. Percy lifted his head.

Annabeth's eyes hardened and her mouth curled into a sneer. "Why fight," she continued, "when we know you will fight until your last breathe." Her eyes were calculating. "You will risk you lives for the Soul Stone. And your mortal friends will lay their lives down with you."

"This is a fool's battle," she scoffed, "so you will not fight and end lives that we need. Instead, you will sit and do nothing." She drew a knife. "As we carve up Castellan until his skin is in shreds." The vehement in her voice shook Reyna.

"She's bluffing," said Steve uncertainly.

"You could have mentioned Percy's dead girlfriend was psycho," Tony said under his breathe to Leo.

"Annabeth Chase was a hero," said Piper loudly. She looked at Annabeth fiercely. "And you are not her."

Percy was absolutely frozen, his face is disbelief as he watched his dead girlfriend smile like the devil.

Annabeth drew a line down Luke's arm, a shallow cut. Luke stirred. Hearing Steve's quick intake of breath, he wasn't use to seeing torture, and honestly, Reyna didn't like it either. Especially when it was one of her closest friends doing it.

Annabeth's smile turned serene as she dove the blade quickly into Luke's shoulder. He gasped, coughing. Blood tricked from his mouth, and Reyna's stomach turned as Annabeth twisted the blade. Thank the gods he was unconscious.

"Stop," said Frank. He was looking at Percy, who had turned a shade of green.

"Perhaps more motivation is needed," Alcyoneus voice hardened. "Perhaps, my apprentice would like a turn."

"Of course Dark One." Annabeth bowed.

Percy snapped his head up. "Knock him out," ordered Reyna.

"What —"

"NOW!" The room shuddered. Walls rumbled and the floor split apart with cracks.

Jason slammed his sword in Percy's head, who promptly collapsed. Reyna took in a deep breathe as the room stopped shaking.

Annabeth sighed. "Poor Perseus, never really could handle his loyalty flaw. You should learn to control your allies Miss Arellano." She tapped a blade on Bianca's cheek. The girl didn't even flinch.

Nico gave a strangled cry of protest. He struggled up. "Hold him too," said Reyna. The last thing they needed was a sign to attack. Frank and Clint grabbed Nico, but he melted into a shadow, only to spring out in front of Annabeth, his stygian blade gleaming. Annabeth simply sidestepped and shoved him back.

Before what Reyna knew she was doing, a dagger had left her head straight to Annabeth. Time seem to slow, as two other knives, a shield, and an arrow joined it. Shadows sprung up from the ground and formed a shield. The weapons bounced off harmlessly.

Alcyoneus chuckled. A familiar scepter materialized in his hand. Reyna watched the stone glow blue. Frank lunged forward, but Annabeth plunged out a hand. A force slammed into him, knocking him back. Frank turned his eyes on Annabeth in disbelief.

Alcyoneus held the spear on Nico's chest. He sputtered, before opening his eyes.

They glowed blue.

And then a gray force field enclosed them.

**Hazel POV**

Hazel had immediately felt her energy leech out of her when Hecate revealed herself. She let the world shift into layers. She could feel her presence in the regular world, but her mind was in another layer of reality.

"Hazel Levesque." Hazel looked at Hecate. The goddess took the form of when they first met, but she was seeing her double layered. " We do not have much time."

Hazel snapped. "I should kill you where you stand."

Hecate sighed. Her face shifted slightly, the blue tinge in her eyes before vanishing. "I'm drawing in your energy to suppress the Mind Stone. Granted it is temporary so I only have a few minutes." She scowled. "Alcyoneus may have that cursed stone to control minds, but I am a child older than the gods. I have more tricks that he will ever know."

Hazel looked at her carefully. "Fine, I believe you. Tell me what I need to do."

"Good," Hecate replied simply. "Now follow my instructions exactly. . ."

**Reyna POV**

"Take the knife," gloated Alcyoneus, from the other side of the barrier. Nico snatched the knife from Annabeth. She snarled at him. Nico merely held the knife.

"Stab yourself."

"Stop Nico!" Piper screamed. Nico hesitated a split second, before stabbing himself in the stomach. Hazel screamed, tears streaming down her face. Nico's face was a mask of agony, but he twisted the blade. Blood gushed from the wound.

"Take it, just take it." Surprisingly, it was Stark who wretched the scepter with the soul stone from Hazel's hands. He tossed it at the feet of Alcyoneus. "Now give us the kid."

"Mortals have no right to meddle with us," sneered Alcyoneus. He waved his hand at Annabeth, and the barrier vanished. Nakamura shoved Nico forward, his face bearing no emotion, the polar twin to Annabeth's sadistic face.

They vanished, along with the army, leaving no trace they were ever there.

Bianca lingered last, picking up the soul stone. It glowed brighter, like it had finally met its rightful owner. She turned her eerie eyes on them once, before vanishing.

Frank unfroze, like from a trace. He immediately starting checking Nico; beaming golden healing energy into him. Piper summoned a field of flowers, then drew out their life energies and directed them to Nico. Jason stood by, ready to shock Nico's heart if necessary.

"Great, so they took the scepter," said Clint, "and they still have Castellan".

"Wow, shocking," muttered Stark.

"It was all your fault," hissed Clint, "You —"

"I got the kid back," said Stark, walking over to Nico probably having JARVIS to scan him. "These eight are the best chance we have at winning this war, which is obviously happening. They'll need each other, 'cause in case your eyes have finally failed you, they are broken."

"No, we are not," Hazel spoke up. "And all hope is not lost."

Reyna helped her up. Hazel gestured to the corner, then the wall shifted.

Hecate was collapsed on the floor, torched out.

"She will tell us what we need to know," said Hazel tiredly. Reyna didn't even question how or what she did. Her mind buzzed with a mixture of emotions, planning, anticipation, and most of all, anger.

Reyna also felt a spark of hope in her chest. "And next time, we won't go down so easily."


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Percy Jackson, TMI, or Avengers. All credits go to their authors

**Percy POV**

Percy huddled underwater in a bubble. He had been in complete silence for hours. A fire flickered in his palm. Hestia's flame has never really been comforting to him. It always burned with an intensity that reminded him of anger and determined fire.

He clenched his fists and roared. The water pulsed, attuned to his raging emotions. Percy refused to sleep or even close his eyes. Overtime, he would see Annabeth die, her evil smile, Luke with blood running down his face, Bianca with a black aura around her, or worst of all, his parents being stabbed by that ***** bloody hair bastard.

Percy slammed his fist into the tiles. And then he was being hauled out of the pool. "What," he snapped, facing the perpetrator. To his surprise is was Clint. The archer looked at him with expressionless blue eyes.

"You need to rest," he said.

Percy scowled. "I'm fine." He was fine actually. He didn't need to sleep. He need blood to spill, especially Alcyoneus's. He was itching to burst out of the tower and hunt for that sick bastard in the streets.

Clint frowned. "You need to sleep. I have almost unanimously permission to tranq if you resist, which Sparky said was 100% possible."

Percy could see his expression in the water. "What are they up to?" He had possibly avoided everyone for two days by sealing off the pool room. Clint must have come though the vents.

"They also said you would dodge the situation with questions."

Percy shrugged.

"Castellan is in coma. That goddess that Hazel got is talking to them upstairs." Clint sighed. "And I'm on babysitting duty."

"I told you I'm fine," said Percy.

Clint sat down next to him. "Look Percy, I know how it is to have friends turn against you. I had friends in SHIELD that turned when HYDRA tried to take over. Good friends like your A—"

Percy bolted up. "Annabeth did not turn against me," he snarled, "she is not the enemy. That ***** bastard just brainwashed her with that **** scepter that he wouldn't even have gotten if your *** spy agency have don't a better job of protecting it!" He took uneven breaths.

Clint didn't even look fazed by him. The archer turned to him with hard eyes. "You think I don't know that. I was once under Loki's scepter's influence. I watched as I turned and attacked my friends. But if I had a choice, I would have wanted my friends to kill me before I did something —"

Percy's fist flew toward Clint's face before he even know he was moving. Clint blocked it inches from his face. Percy growled, "As long as I'm still standing, I am not going to allow anyone to harm —"

Clint shoved him away. "It isn't your choice to make." His voice hardened. "I'm going to go now, and leave you here to think like a person."

Percy ignored the retreating footsteps, and slammed his fist into the concrete. He punched the floor until his knuckles were bloodied.

No, Clint was wrong. Percy got up. He was going to save her. He was going to save Ethan. And he won't let anyone else die. Even if it meant he had to give up his life.

**Tony POV**

Tony Stark was a very sane person. So he cursed every single kind of mythology in the world. First, the Norse had come and New York was invaded by aliens. Now, the Greeks were planning to take over the world with monsters and zombies.

Meeting Leo and his friends were good. Hell, that kid was a genius like him. But then, that firehead idiot decided to ruin the fun. And HYDRA was involved somehow.

Just great.

Tony looked over at the supposed goddess sitting on his couch. Finally, a goddess that hadn't gone off the deep end, and she was scary. With the black mist curling off her and blazing torches, she looked like a demon ghoul. Except she had a dog and farting weasel running around her feet.

"Pay attention Stark," Reyna's voice snapped him back into the present. Geez, that girl was scary. Not scary like the Piper girl, just intimidating. She was a leader like Steve, but even he seem to bend under her will.

"I am paying attention," Tony drawled, "The Amazons and Hunters are in Acaltraz and we are going to rescue them."

"Be thankful he not making any annoying comments," Clint whispered.

"I wasn't finished," Tony huffed.

"Yes you are," Reyna snapped.

"The Hunters and Amazons are stuck in Alcatraz?" Tony spun to see Percy walking toward them. The kid was circles under his eyes and bruised hand, but he sounded fine.

"Yes," Reyna said. She scanned him up and down. "I thought Clint told you to rest."

"I did," Percy said. "So when are we leaving." Tony waited for the objections to flood in, but no one said a thing.

"In a few minutes," Hazel said.

"Whoa," Tony could help but object, "You are seriously letting him go?"

"Everyone is going," Jason said, "And if we leave him behind, he's just going to follow us." He cracked a smile. "Ready to get Thalia?"

Percy smiled. "I bet she is gonna shock me for being so late."

The goddess rose to her feet. "I'm will be returning to Olympus now. Apollo will need my magic for the poison. I will aid you in your time of need." She vanished.

"Wait," Percy said, "what did tell us?"

"Loki's scepter, or as she called it, the Mind scepter, need to be in direct contact with you to control your mind. The soul scepter will be used to raise the dead to fight against Olympus. We cannot let it touch us too long, or Alcyoneus can use it to severe our souls from our bodies. He can't use it, but since Bianca di Angelo is under his command, she will follow his orders.

The day after tomorrow, a monster army will march on Olympus. Our plan is simple. Free the Hunter and Amazons so they can help us. The monsters guarding them will most likely be smaller since thy are gearing up for battle. But we have to hurry before they sent reinforcements, since they probably noticed Hecate is gone."

Percy nodded. "Are we jumping?"

"Kinda, all of us will shadow travel a quinjet over in case we get to tired after. It's going to be covert and fast. Get in and get out a quickly as possible, preferably with every one alive."

Percy nodded. "Got it."

"Wait," Bruce interrupted, "I won't be going then right?"

"You and Clary are going to be back up," Reyna said, "If things get ugly, you jump in."

"I assume I'm guarding him," Clary said.

"Yes, no Hulk form unless absolutely necessary." Reyna eyed every one of them.

"Everyone gear up," Reyna said, "We leave in ten minutes."

She walked away. "And just so you know Tony, a few SHIELD agents will be coming to protect Luke."

Tony jerked back, half horrified half insulted. "JARVIS is more than capable. There's no way I'm letting those penguin suits up here."

As usual she ignored him. Tony sighed. He needed a vacation.

**Percy POV**

The quinjet was cloaked and hovering miles off the ground. They were skydiving down, well, some of them any way.

Reyna pulled up a 3D model of the island and jail

"All right, this is the layout of the jail. There are three levels, and four main blocks of cells. The red dots are what infrared scans shows us. They could be monsters, but since most of them are in groups of two, its probably prisoners. We go in teams of four. Each team has a floor.

Jason, you take Piper and go thorough the roof. Frank, fly Hazel and enter the top level on this side. You clear that floor. Tony, Clint, Leo, and I have the second floor, those of us who can't fly will use the quinjet Nico, Percy, Steve, and Natasha are on the first, skydiving down.

JARVIS has quinjets flying to us as we speak. Clary, you and Bruce are back up. Mostly, defend the incoming quinjets if they are attacked because we need them to take people off this island.

If there are people, mist them ignore them. There should be anyone here since its closed, but you never know. And try not to destroy anything. "

Percy nodded. He jumped off, his team following. Enabling the parachute, he rolled when he hit the ground. Coming up in the run, he followed his team to the door. Bursting in, the corridor split.

Natasha immediately went left. Percy motioned Steve and Nico head right, before running after her.

The first monster, a cyclops, had barely rounded the corner before Natasha was onto him. Knives flashed as she past it like a whirlwind. Percy grinned. Give her a pair of celestial daggers and she was just as good as any demigod. Maybe even better.

"I'll deal with the monsters," Natasha said, "you free your friends." She launched down the hall. Percy drew Riptide and ran after her.

The cells came into view soon enough. Each one had two people inside. Then Percy realized all the prisoners were girls. Percy paused in front of the first one. "Hey, are you Amazons or Hunters?"

The girls glared at him. The older one moved in front of the younger one. "Go to Hades," she spat.

"I'll guess Hunter," Percy decided. He sliced the lock. "We're here to free you. Where's Thalia?" The girl stared at him in disbelief. "Hurry up," Percy snapped, "we're on a time limit."

"She's above us," the younger girl said. Percy nodded.

"Fine, the others will get to her." He tossed them his spare knives. "There are four of us on each floor freeing you. Some of us are mortals. We have hover jets coming. Help free the prisoners and get them aboard."

The girl nodded. "Let's go Alia," she ordered the younger one. They ran out. Percy ran down the corridor, slicing through the locks. He could here people scuffling out behind him, running free.

He could hear the faint sounds of the quinjets descending onto the island. He cleared the hall. A monster lunged out of the shadows, but he sliced through it.

Clearing more cells and monsters, he rounded into a giant room. Computers and tables scattered across the space, with machines and equipment he had never scene. Natasha stood at a computer, trying.

"I need a few minutes," she said. Percy nodded.

"Team 1, are you clear?" Reyna's voice came over the comms.

"East and south sides are clear," Percy said.

"North and West are almost complete," Nico reported. "We have Hylla with us."

"Team 2 is clear," said Clint.

"And we have Sparky's sister. Though she looks more related to death boy." Tony's remark was cut off abruptly by a cry, and the sound of electricity. Percy could hear the sounds of Thalia yelling.

"Teams 3 and 2 pull out," Reyna said. "Team 1, finish and follow."

"Understood," said Nico.

"Can you handle your side?" Percy asked.

"Yes," Nico replied.

Percy nodded. "We have to leave now," he said to Natasha. She nodded. Percy watched as she pulled out a flash drive from the computer and pocket it. They ran for the door. Percy eyed the cells along the way, making sure they were empty.

They burst outside. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Nico and Steve jump onto a quinjet. Percy watched as dozens of them rise into the air. Percy grabbed Natasha and shadow traveled them onto the closest one.

"Who are you," asked an Amazon. Percy faced the girls sitting on the floor. Some looked exhausted, others wary.

"Percy Jackson," he said.

She nodded. "Of course," she murmured. "Where are we headed?"

"I don't know," he said, "the plan was New York, but it might change."

"Especially since we have company," Natasha said. Percy whirled around. He could see a calvary of flying monsters following them.

"Reyna, we have company," he said. The comm was silent.

"Jason said he would deal with it." Came the reply. Percy scowled.

"No alone he isn't." Percy ran over to the latch to the roof. He climbed up. The wind whistled as he balanced on the rook. He saw lightning and wind strike at the monsters. Jason stood a few jets away from him. He nodded.

Percy threw his hand up. A wave of water rose from the sea. It slammed into the monsters. Percy clenched his fist and the water dragged them into the ocean.

Percy pulled at the water until now more monsters were in sight.

"Threat neutralized," he and Jason said.

"We're landing in Malibu at Stark's place to refuel. Then to New York," Frank said. Percy drowned out the sound of Tony complaining about hosting an army of teenage girls at his mansion

They had more numbers now. "I coming for you Alcyoneus," Percy murmured, "and you are going to pay."


End file.
